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The  author  has  endeavored  in  the  following 
pages  to  place  on  a  rational  basis  a  subject  that 
has  hitherto  been  taught  dogmatically,  if  indeed 
it  can  be  truly  said  to  have  ever  been  taught  at 
aU. 

The  vast  wealth  in  horse  flesh,  so  materially 
affected  by  selection  of  breeding  stock,  that  is  in- 
vested in  the  civilized  world,  is  the  author's  ex- 
cuse for  bringing  out  this  httle  work. 

In  the  case  of  the  domesticated  animals  man's 
protective  interference  entirely  puts  aside  the 
great  natural  law,  the  survival  of  the  fittest, 
which  obtains  with  such  salutary  effects  among 
non-domesticated  animals.  Were  all  the  horses 
of  the  civilized  world  gathered  into  a  field,  and 
this  field  placed  side  by  side  with  one  containing 
all  the  antelopes  of  South  Africa,  the  great  law 
we  have  mentioned  would  be  most  strikingly 
demonstrated;  one  field  would  exhibit  the  per- 
fect, the  halt  and  the  blind,  a  medley  of  beauty, 


VI.  PREFACE. 

and  wretched  deformity;  whilst  the  other  would 
show  only  grace,  elegance  and  excess  of  hfe. 

At  present  the  breeding  of  racing  stock  only 
approaches  the  great  law  of  survival  of  the  fit- 
test, much  care  being  taken  to  register  results, 
and  the  representatives  of  best  results  are  set 
apart  to  reproduce  their  hke.  A  more  perfect 
combination  of  scientific  and  logical  method  than 
is  followed  in  the  reproduction  of  racing  stock 
does  not  obtain  in  any  physicist's  laboratory. 
With  no  other  class  of  horse  is  this  method  ap- 
phcable;  hence  the  necessity  of  judging  by  other 
and  less  exact  methods,  and  therefore  the  neces- 
sity of  some  such  way  as  has  been  indicated. 

Lastly,  it  is  desirable  here  to  point  out  that  the 
book  is  not  written  with  any  intention  of  stand- 
ing in  place  of  the  thinking  out  process  of  the 
learner,  but  is  more  as  a  guide  to  the  hues  along 
which  thought  must  be  directed.  By  using  it  as 
a  guide,  and  thinking  out  the  subject  for  himself, 
the  author  beheves  that  any  one  of  intelligence 
may  in  a  very  few  months,  by  observation  and 
diligence,  become  a  scientific  judge  of  a  horse. 

The  author  craves  indulgence,  as  the  work  is  en- 
tirely original. 

London,.  March,  1879. 


CONTENTS. 


Lesson.  Page. 

I.  Introduction 11 

II.  The  Nostrils  and  Lips 22 

"  The  Mouth 26 

III.  The  Eye 35 

IV.  Face  AND  Head 49 

V.  The  Neck 56 

VI.  The  Fore  Extremity 65 

VII.  The  Fore  Limbs 80 

"  The  Trunk 85 

VIII.  The  Hind  Extremities 90 

IX.  Hind  Extremities  continued 103 

"  The  Hock 106 

X.  The  Wlnd,  Color.  Height,  Coat  and  Hair,  Age.  110 


EXPLANATION  OF  SKELETON. 

Vertebra. — The  bones  forming  the  neck  and  tail  are  seen  to 
be  without  upper  processes  or  spines.  The  remainder  have 
spines.  Those  of  the  back  proper  having  the  longest  spines, 
especially  at  the  forward  part  known  as  the  withers. 

Fore  Extremity.— This  is  explained  at  Fig.  8. 

HmD  Extremity.— 33,  34,  35,  36  is  the  Ilio-ischium,  37. 
Femur.  38.  Tibia,  with  the  Fibula  at  the  top  of  it  and  behind  it. 
39.  Lever  bone  of  hock,  corresponding  to  the  human  heel,  and 
called  the  os  calcis.  40.  The  Gliding  Bone,  called  astragalus, 
with  its  two  large  gliding  surfaces  well  seen  in  the  right  hind 
leg.  41.  Buffer  bone  of  hock.  45.  Metatarsal  bone,  with  small 
metatarsals  (46)  immediately  behind  it.  The  remaining  bones 
are  the  same  as  those  of  the  fore  leg. 


LESSONS  IN  HOESE  JUDGING. 


LESSON  I. 

INTRODUCTION 


1. — In  the  following  pages  it  will  be  attempted 
to  place  a  subject  which  has  hitherto  been  largely 
conducted  empirically  on  a  scientific  basis. 

2. — Horses  are  hving  machines  hke  ourselves, 
and  have  many  things  in  common  with  not-hving 
machines,  which  obey  certain  well-known  phys- 
ical as  well  as  physiological  laws. 

3. — Their  mode  of  progression  is  by  a  system  of 
levers,  sometimes  of  perfect  construction  and  ad- 
vantageously disposed,  but  more  often  of  imper- 
fect construction  and  placed  at  a  disadvantage. 

4. — In  order  that  the  general  student  may  fol- 
low us  in  our  further  remarks,  it  will  be  absolutely 
necessary  for  us  to  explam  briefly  the  construc- 
tion of  these  living  levers,  which  are  composed  of 
two  materials  in  every  case,  namely;  an  active 
material  and  several  passive  materials. 

6. — The  active  materials  are  the  so-called  mus- 
cles of  the  body  which  we  popularly  call  flesh  or 
'  lean '  meat.    These  muscles,  which  are  attached 


12  LESSONS  IN   HORSE  JUDGING. 

to  the  levers  of  the  body,  and  move  them,  in  doing 
so  always  act  in  one  and  the  same  way — namely, 
by  alternately  lengthening  and  shortening.  Of 
these  two  movements,  one  is  active,  the  other 
passive.  It  is  the  active  movement,  that  of  short- 
ening, which  does  the  work.  After  a  muscle  has 
shortened,  or,  as  it  is  termed,  contracted,  it  allows 
other  forces  to  pull  it  out  or  lengthen,  it  and  it 
passively  submits  to  being  so  lengthened. 

6. — All  muscles  are  made  up  of  countless  bun- 
dles, and  these  bmidles  are  made  up  in  fibres. 
These  fibres  being  about  the  same  size  of  all  cases, 
it  follows  that  the  more  of  them  the  stronger  will 
be  the  muscle,  hence  the  larger  the  muscle  the 
stronger.  A  muscle  fibre  (See  Fig.  1.  CD)  is  made 
up  of  a  number  of  squares,  placed  one  on  the  other, 
as  you  would  place  a  pile  of  dice.  These  squares, 
on  being  stimulated,  change  their  shape,  as  seen 
in  the  diagram.  The  power  of  changing  their 
shape  is  called  muscular  irritability,  and  resides 
somehow  or  other  in  the  muscle  itself,  or,  in  other 
words,  every  fibre  has  irritability.  This  irrita- 
hility  is  called  forth  when  a  stimulant  is  applied. 
Various  stimulants  wiU  caU  it  forth.  If  you  see 
an  animal  that  is  newly  kiUed  and  which  has  its 
skin  removed,  you  see  the  flesh  twitch  or  quiver 
in  various  parts.  This  is  the  contraction  or  twitch- 
ing here  and  there  of  the  muscles,  whose  irrita- 
bility is  affected  by  the  cold  air,  the  cold  air  act- 
ing as  a  stimulant.  If  you  now  pinch  one  of  the 
muscles,  or  prick  it  wHh  a  pin,  it  will  quiver  or 
contract.  The  same  would  occur  if  you  applied 
galvanism  to  it. 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 


13 


The  natural  stimulants  of  the  muscle  are  the 
nerves  (Fig.  1.  n  n),  the  little  white  cords  which 
you  see  running  in  various  directions  among  the 
muscles  or  flesh,  and  which  come  from  the  brain 
and  the  spinal  cord.  If  you  had  to  apply  a  gal- 
vanic battery  to  a  muscle,  before  long  you  would 

Figure  1. 

A  B  0  D 


exhaust  aU  its  irritability,  that  is,  in  time  it  would 
cease  to  contract,  showing  that  there  is  only  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  irritability  in  the  muscle.  If  all 
the  muscles  of  the  body  contract  at  the  same  time, 
the  whole  body  is  perfectly  rigid  or  stiff,  a  thing 
we  never  see  in  health,  but  which  we  see  in  a 
modified  state  after  death,  and  which  is  called 
rigor  mortis.  This  general  stiffness,  or  rigor  mor- 
tis, comes  on  as  the  body  cools:  the  cold  acting  as 


14  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

a  stimulant,  as  we  have  before  seen.  In  a  few 
hours  or  days  the  general  stiffness  disappears  and 
leaves  the  body  quite  flaccid,  that  is,  the  cold  has 
exhausted  all  the  muscular  irritability.  In  ani- 
mals that  are  hunted  to  death,  such  as  foxes,  that 
are  kiUed  after  being  chased  and  able  to  run  no 
further,  or  whose  muscles  have  lost  their  irrita- 
bility or  power  of  further  contracting,  this  rigor 
mortis,  or  stiffness  of  the  body  after  death,  never 
takes  place.  So  it  is  with  animals  who  die  after 
long  and  exhausting  iUnesses,  the  stiffness  after 
death  either  occurs,  or  occurs  so  slightly  as  hardly 
to  be  observed.  Animals  killed  by  lightning  are 
also  never  stiff  after  death.  The  lightning  being 
so  powerful  a  stimulant  as  to  exhaust  the  irrita- 
bility of  the  muscles  instantly. 

7. — This  irritability  of  muscle  can  be  stored  up 
in  vast  quantities  when  the  muscle  is  in  what  is 
termed  good  tone.  When  we  speak  of  a  horse,  a 
hunter  for  example,  being  in  condition,  we  mean 
that  his  muscles  are  in  good  tone ;  or,  in  other  words, 
that  his  muscles  can  lay  in  large  quantities  of  irri- 
tability, which  takes  hours  of  hard  toil  to  exhaust. 
The  process  by  which  the  muscles  are  brought  to 
*  tone '  is  called  ^  conditioning.'  When  large  quan- 
tities of  this  irritability  have  been  stored,  the  first 
expenditure  of  it  is  intensely  pleasurable,  and  this 
pleasurable  excitement,  unrestrained,  which  it 
often  is  on  first  coming  out  of  the  stable,  is  called 
^freshness.'  Shortly,  when  some  of  the  irrita- 
bility or  freshness  has  gone  off,  further  expen- 
diture of  irritability  causes  neither  pleasure  nor 
pain,  but  indifference,  and  the  horse  is  said  to 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  15 

^  quieten  down. '  If  the  exercise  or  work  be  car- 
ried to  an  extreme,  then,  as  the  muscular  irrita- 
hility  is  vanishing,  pain  in  the  muscles  comes  on, 
which  is  nature's  warning  to  stop  the  machine, 
and  lay  in  another  store  of  irritability. 

8. — The  part  of  the  muscle  which  contracts  is 
its  red  part,  called  its  belly  (Fig.  1.  1  1)  and  the 
hard,  white  glistening  continuation  of  the  belly  is 
called  the  tendon  (Fig.  1.  2  2).  The  belly  of  the 
muscle  is  usually  attached  to  the  fixed  part,  while 
the  tendon  is  attached  to  the  part  to  be  moved. 
If,  however,  the  part  othervdse  to  be  moved  is 
fixed,  and  the  muscle  contracts,  then  the  part  to 
which  the  belly  of  the  muscle  is  attached  has  to 
move.  When  the  tendon  is  drawn  towards  the 
belly  of  the  muscle  and  the  movements  again  and 
again  repeated,  the  parts  would  become  heated 
by  friction  were  it  not  that  this  is  provided 
against.  Friction  is  prevented  by  the  tendon 
being  surrounded  by  a  sheath,  containing  a  lubri- 
cating material  called  ^ joint  oil'  or  technically, 
'synovia.'  This  'joint  oil'  or  'synovia'  is  gen- 
erated by  a  membrane  lining  the  *  sheath,'  and 
which  gets  the  name  of  'synovial  membrane,' 
because  it  produces  the  synovia. 

Some  muscles  do  not  terminate  in  rope-shaped 
tendons  which  have  to  '  play '  through  lubricated 
sheaths,  but  end  in  expanded  sheet-hke  tendons 
which  need  no  lubricating  material.  We  shall 
find  that  the  muscles  of  the  face  are  of  the  latter 
description,  and  have  their  sheet-like  tendons 
closely  connected  to  the  skin  over  the  lips.  This 
is  well  seen  in  ourselves  in  laughing.     The  bellies 


16  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

of  the  muscles  forming  our  cheeks  contract  and 
of  course  swell  out  (Fig.  1.  A),  while  their  tendons 
are  attached  closely  to  the  skin  of  the  lips,  espec- 
ially the  upper  lip,  so  that  in  laughing  the  cheeks 
bulge  out  and  the  hps  tighten  and  drag  back- 
wards. 

9. — The  contraction  of  a  muscle  is  very  limited, 
so  that  the  tendon  moves  a  very  little  distance  in 
its  sheath. 

So  much  for  the  active  part  of  the  lever;  the 
remaining  parts  are  made  up  of  passive  agents  in 
the  form  of  bones  and  joints. 

10. — Bones  are  of  three  varieties,  named  from 
their  shape ;  long,  flat,  and  irregular. 

The  long  bones  are  largely  concerned  in  forming 
the  levers  ;  as  the  fore  and  hind  limbs,  which  are 
mainly  composed  of  them.  The  flat  bones,  for 
the  most  part,  make  up  the  face  and  head ;  the 
shoulder  blade  is  also  a  flat  bone.  The  irregular 
bones  make  up  the  ^back  bone,'  called  the  'ver- 
tebral column,'  which  extends  from  the  head  to 
the  tip  of  the  tail.  The  bones  making  up  the 
'  back  bone '  are  very  numerous,  being  seven  in 
number  for  the  neck,  eighteen  for  the  back,  fiv 
or  six  for  the  loins,  five  for  the  croup,  and  fron 
ten  to  twenty  for  the  tail.  With  the  exception  ot" 
those  forming  the  croup,  which  are  stuck  together 
and  immoveable  one  on  the  other,  the  remainder 
of  the  bones  forming  this  long  column  are  slightly 
moveable  one  on  the  other,  so  that  were  you  to 
pass  a  piece  of  stout  cord  down  their  central 
canal — which  canal  gives  passage  to  the  spinal 
cord — and  hold  one  end  of  it  high  in  the  air,  and 


LESSONS  IN   HORSE   JUDGING. 


17 


shake  it  to  and  fro,  it  would  wriggle  like  an  eel. 
Other  irregular  bones  are  found  making  up  the 
knee  and  hock  joints. 

11. — Long  bones  in  forming  joints  have  to  ex- 
pand at  their  ends  (See  Fig.  2.  A  1),  and  these 
expanded  ends  are  covered  by  a  substance  which 


Figure  2. 


r^ 


B 


-vyVS 


is  yielding  and  elastic,  and  called  ^  cartilage '  (Fig. 
2.  A  4)  which  acts  hke  a  buffer,  and  so  lessens 
concussion.  The  two  ends  of  the  -bone  are  bornid 
to  each  other  by  strong  unstretchable  fibrous 
bands  called  ligaments'  (Fig.  2.  A  2).  Oil  is 
generated  just  as  it  is  in  the  sheath  of  a  tendon 
f  by  a  synovial  membrane  (Fig.  2.  A  3),  and  is  rep- 
resented in  our  diagram  by  a  dotted  hue.  When 
a  joint  is  subject  to  more  than  ordinary  concus- 
sion; as,  for  instance,  the  M^nee'  joint,  provision 


18  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

is  made  for  additional  cartilage  by  irregular  bones 
being  interposed  between  the  two  ends  of  the  long 
bones  (Fig.  2.  jB),  each  of  these  bones  being  thickly 
covered  on  its  upper  and  lower  surfaces,  where 
the  concussion  comes,  by  cai-tilage.  So  that  in  a 
section  from  above  downwards  through  the  'knee' 
joint,  instead  of  two  buffers  being  interposed  we 
find  six.  The  bone  above  the  knee,  and  the  bone 
below  it  being  in  a  straight  line  when  the  weight 
of  the  body  is  thrown  upon  them,  much  concus- 
sion would  take  place  were  it  not  for  this  arrange- 
ment. When  bones  which  meet  and  form  a  joint 
are  set  at  an  angle,  then  of  course  there  is  less 
chance  of  concussion,  and  so  we  find  less  '  carti- 
lage '  needed. 

12. — As  there  are  three  forms  of  levers,  we 
must  be  careful  to  remember  this,  and  we  shall 
close  this  somewhat  dry  and  relatively  uninter- 
esting lesson  by  a  few  remarks  on  the  mechanical 
lever,  and  compare  it  with  the  animal  lever. 

The  lever  is  an  unyielding  bar  (represented  in 
the  animal  by  bone),  capable  of  free  motion  about 
a  fixed  axis,  called  the  'fulcrum.'  To  this  lui- 
yielding  bar,  '  power '  is  applied  (which  in  the 
animal  lever  is  represented  by  muscle  and  its  ten- 
don). Lastly,  we  have  the  weight,  resistance,  or 
obstacle  to  be  overcome  by  the  power. 

If  the  fulcrum  {F)  be  placed  between  the  power 
(P)  and  the  weight  (TF),  so  that  when  the  power 
sets  the  lever  in  motion  the  weight  and  the  power 
describe  arcs,  the  concavities  of  wliich  are  turned 
towards  one  another,  the  lever  is  said  to  be  of  the 
fii^st  order  (See  Fig.  3,  A).     If  the  fulcrum  be  at 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 


19 


one  end,  and  the  weight  be  between  it  and  the 
l^ower,  so  that  weight  and  power  describe  concen- 
tric arcs,  the  Weight  moving  through  less  space, 
the  lever  is  of  the  second  order  (Fig.  3,  B).  And 
if,  the  fulcrum  being  still  at  one  end,  the  Power 
be  between  the  Weight  and  Fulcrum  so  that  the 


Figure  3. 


W^ 


5 


\ 


W 


i^  ^ — ^ — ?w 


Power  and  Weight  describe  concentric  arcs,  the 
Power  moving  through  less  space,  the  lever  is  of 
the  third  order  (Fig.  3,  (7). 

We  shall  now  give  examples  of  these;  first  in 
mechanical  levers: — 

Lever  of  First  order  =^  the  beam  of  the  balance. 

Lever  of  Second  order  =  the  common  wheel- 
barrow. 

Lever  of  Third  order  =  the  treadle  of  a  lathe. 

In  the  living  lever  we  find  one  joint  will  illus- 
trate all  three  orders  according  to  its  position  with 
regard  to  the  body.     Let  us  take  the  hock-joint, 


20  LESSONS   IN   HORSE   JUDGING. 

in  man  called  the  ankle.  We  find,  still  referring 
to  Fig.  3,  that  we  have  in  the  living  lever  a  power 
in  front  and  another  behind  the  leg  bone. 

Now  to  illustrate  our  three  orders  of  levers,  we 
find  we  have  only  to  study  the  hock- joint  in  the 
trot.  The  first  order  is  seen  in  the  hock  in  the 
trot  after  the  foot  has  been  hf ted  from  the  ground. 
To  bring  it  quickly  to  the  ground  we  find  the  ful- 
crum at  the  true  hock- joint,  the  power  attached 
behind  to  the  point  of  the  hock,  and  the  iveight 
to  be  moved,  and  all  the  parts  below  the  hock, 
including,  of  course,  the  foot. 

To  illustrate  our  lever  of  the  second  order,  take 
the  hock  in  the  trot  when  the  foot  is  placed  o?ithe 
ground.  We  now  find  the  fulcrum  and  weight 
have  changed  places,  but  the  power  is  still  as  in 
the  first  order,  behind  the  hock.  The  foot  being 
planted  on  the  ground  is  now  the  seat  of  i\iQ  ful- 
crum, or  fixed  point,  and  the  iveight  is  the  whole 
of  the  body  which  is  thrown  on  to  the  true  hock- 
joint,  and  is  the  obstacle  to  be  overcome,  and  is 
being  hfted  and  pushed  forward. 

Lastly,  our  lever  of  the  third  order  is  seen  in 
the  hock  during  the  trot,  when  the  hind  leg  is 
left  behind  after  pushing  the  body  forward,  and 
has  to  be  lifted  and  pulled  forward  before  it  can 
again  be  brought  forward  under  the  body  (this  is 
the  same  action,  and  better  seen,  when  the  him 
foot  is  being  lifted  to  knock  of  a  fly  that  is  irri- 
tating the  belly),  the  front  power  is  now  acting, 
and  the  weight  and  fulcrum  are  the  same  as  in 
the  example  of  the  third  order,  or,  in  other  words, 
the  power  is  in  the  middle. 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  21 

Summarizing  what  has  been  said  of  the  three 
orders  of  lever  as  exemphfied  by  the  hock- joint 
in  trotting,  we  have  f  omid  first,  that  the  weight 
is  all  parts  below  the  hock  when  the  foot  is  ojf 
the  ground,  and  all  parts  above  the  hock  when 
the  foot  is  on  the  ground.  Second,  when  the  foot 
is  off  the  ground  and  swinging  backwards  the 
lever  is  of  the  first  order,  but  when  swinging  for- 
wards it  is  of  the  third  order,  whilst  it  is  of  the 
second  order  when  on  the  ground. 


LESSON  II. 

THE  NOSTRILS  AND  LIPS. 

13. — The  nostrils  are  those  openings  over  the 
muzzle  through  which  the  air  has  to  pass  on  its 
way  to  the  lungs,  and  as  a  horse  cannot  breathe 
through  his  mouth,  all  the  air  he  breathes  7nust 
pass  throught  his  nostrils,  so  that  they  must  be  as 
tvide  as  possible. 

The  nostrils  are  made  up  of  muscles,  which  are 
covered  with  skin  and  hair. 

The  muscles  are  for  the  purpose  of  regulating 
the  width  of  the  opening.  It  is  plain  that  when 
the  horse  is  at  rest  he  needs  less  air  than  when 
walking,  trotting,  galloping,  or  drawing  a  load, 
and  so  only  breathes  about  ten  or  twelves  times  a 
minute.  In  doing  so,  it  is  quite  plain  that  the 
opening  of  the  nostrils  need  not  be  so  wide,  as 
when  at  work  he  breathes  three  times  as  quickly. 
The  muscles  are  thrown  into  action  the  moment 
the  horse  has  to  breathe  more  quickly,  and  you 
will  have  noticed  the  large,  stiff  and  wide  nostrils 
of  a  horse  that  is  undergoing  severe  exertion. 

14. — The  opening  of.  the  nostrils  when  the  horse 
is  resting  and  breathing  slowly  is  a  mere  chink  or 
slit,  but  in  violent  exertion  the  nostril  opening  is 
quite  round,  and  often  reminds  one  of  the  mouth 
of  that  ancient  weapon,  the  blunderbuss. 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  23 

The  muscles  of  the  nostrils  must  be  in  good 
tone.  All  muscles,  when  unduly  rested,  lose  their 
tone,  but  when  only  moderately  used  keep  their 
tone.  Perhaps  of  all  the  muscles  of  the  body  the 
muscles  of  the  nostrils  are  the  least  likely  to  lose 
their  tone,  because  the  horse  has  only  to  walk 
quickly  to  be  obliged  to  widen  his  nostrils  and 
breathe  quicker.  Even  in  illness,  the  fever  which 
so  often  accompanies  his  disease  increases  his  rate 
of  breathing,  and  so  exercises  the  muscles  of  the 
nostrils.  Sometimes,  however,  the  muscles  do 
lose  some  of  their  tone,  and  then,  if  you  take 
and  gallop  the  horse  severely,  the  muscles  vibrate 
and  make  a  fr-r-r-r-apping  noise.  This  peculiar 
noise  disappears  when  the  horse  gets  into  regular 
work,  and  the  muscle  of  the  nostril  acquires  the 
requisite  amount  of  *tone.' 

When  the  nostrils  are  a  shade  smaller  than  they 
ought  to  be  and  the  horse  is  put  to  violent  breath- 
ing effort,  the  muscles  of  the  nostrils  render  the 
wall  of  the  nostrils  so  stiff  and  rigid  that  the  air 
in  passing  in  makes  a  loud  blowing  noise,  and 
clearly  indicates  want  of  nasal  capacity.  Such  a 
one  is  called  a  ^high  blower.'  This  is  always  a 
fault,  and  sometimes  renders  a  horse  worthless 
for  violent  effort,  such  as  hunting,  racing,  and 
drawing  extra  heavy  loads. 

The  nerve  which  supphes  the  muscles  of  the 
nostrils  with  the  power  of  movement  must  not 
be  overlooked.  It  comes  from  the  brain  and 
leaves  the  interior  of  the  skull  through  a  canal 
formed  of  bone,  and  close  to  the  roots  of  the  ears. 
You  see  it  in  the  living  horse  on  either  side  as  it 


24  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

passes  over  the  cheek  near  the  root  of  the  ear  as 
three  or  four  stripes  as  of  thick  whip-cord  running 
along  under  the  skin  towards  the  nostrils.  This 
nerve,  after  leaving  the  bony  canal  at  the  bottom 
of  the  skull  near  the  root  of  the  ears,  has  to  pass 
through  a  gland,  which  produces  the  saliva  or 
spittle.  It  is  this  gland  which  swells  at  the  side 
of  the  face  when  he  is  said  to  have  got  the  *  vives.' 
In  the  horse,  should  this  gland  swell,  it  presses 
uj^on  the  nerve  we  are  speaking  of,  and  stops  its 
current,  and  (as  this  nerve  suppUes  the  lips,  the 
muscle  which  closes  the  eye,  also  the  principal 
muscle  of  the  cheek),  when  its  current  is  quite 
stopped  these  muscles  become  paralyzed  and  can- 
not move  the  parts,  so  that  the  lips  hang  down 
and  swing  about  like  pendulums  ;  the  eye  always 
remains  open  with  a  fixed  stare,  and  the  cheek 
bags  out  and  the  nostrils  cannot  become  expanded. 
All  this  can  be  brought  about  by  a  draught  blow- 
ing on  to  the  side  of  the  head  and  giving  a  ^  cold ' 
to  the  gland  and  causing  it  to  swell  and  press  on 
the  nerve.  This  state  of  things  usually  lasts  from 
one  to  three  weeks,  or  until  the  '  cold '  disappears. 
The  lesson  we  thus  learn  is  this  ;  see  that  the  nos- 
trils expand  when  the  horse  comes  to  exert  him- 
self, and  also  see  that  his  hps  are  not  swinging 
about  like  pendulums.  Very  old  horses  some- 
times have  pendulous  lips  from  dcbihty.  If  you 
are  buying  such  a  one  give  him  a  feed  of  hay, 
and  watch  him  to  see  if  he  can  grasp  the  hay 
with  his  lips,  or  if  he  has  to  push  his  nose  into  it 
and  seize  it  with  his  teeth.  If  he  has  to  do  this 
don't  buy  liim,  because  he  will  spoil  more  food 


LESSONS  IN   HORSE  JUDGING.  25 

than  he  eats,  from  it  dropping  out  of  his  mouth 
when  chewing ;  he  will  take  twice  the  time  to 
feed,  and  he  can  never  keep  his  condition.  Some- 
times he  swings  the  lips  about  in  trying  to  seize  a 
morsel,  showing  that  some  power  in  them  re- 
mains. If  this  be  so,  present  a  pail  of  water  to 
him  and  watch  him  drink,  and  see  if  he  can  purse 
his  lips  naturally,  or  if  they  are  so  powerless  that 
he  has  to  dip  his  whole  muzzle  into  the  water 
nearly  up  to  his  eyes.  If  he  cannot  keep  his  lips 
pursed  and  so  keep  up  a  steady  drinking  effort, 
don't  buy  him. 

15. — Next,  hold  his  nostrils  open  and  look  in- 
side. The  pink,  or  it  may  be  bluish  red  mem- 
brane you  see,  ought  to  be  covered  with  spots  of 
water  like  dew.  There  ought  not  to  be  any  ulcers 
or  abrasions  to  be  seen,  or  ^  raw '  spots  of  any 
kind.  You  will  always,  however,  find  a  very 
small  opening  like  a  ^  punched  out '  hole,  but  this 
is  natural,  and  no  notice  need  be  taken  of  it. 

16. — If  there  be  any  discharge  from  the  nostrils, 
save  a  slight  watery  discharge,  it  may  be  that  the 
horse  is  suffering  from  a  'cold,'  or  he  may  be 
'  glandered. '  The  color  of  the  discharge  must  be 
noticed,  also  its  thickness.  Then,  again,  you  must 
notice  whether  it  comes  from  both  nostrils  or  only 
one.  If  it  be  from  '  cold, '  it  may  be  variously 
colored,  even  green,  as  when  the  horse  is  feeding 
on  green  food  in  summer.  It  also  may  be  of  any 
thickness  from  wateriness  to  ropiness,  and  yet  any 
be  from  a  harmless  'cold. '  If,  however,  it  be  thick 
and  gluey,  and  sink  when  put  into  cold  water,  or 
be  tinged  with  blood,  it  is  most  likely  that  the 


26  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

horse  is  glandered,  and  if  so,  he  will  inoculate  you 
and  so  kill  you,  if  you  are  not  careful.  The  sus- 
picion of  glanders  is  strengthened  if  the  discharge 
is  coming  only  from  one  nostril. 

If  you  are  buying  a  horse,  see  that  a  discharge 
from  the  nostril  is  not  cleaned  away  when  your 
back  is  turned.  The  muzzle  should  have  no 
streaks  of  discharge  upon  it,  neither  should  it  be 
wet  as  if  sponged. 

The  bony  nostrils  is  that  part  of  the  upper  por- 
tion of  the  face  between  the  muzzle  and  the  eyes, 
and  is  immediately  beneath  the  skin. 

17. — The  bony  nostrils  may  be  quite  straight 
when  the  horse  may  be  said  to  have  a  Grecian 
nose  ;  or  they  may  be  indented  or  pugged  ;  or  they 
may  be  arched  like  a  Eoman  nose.  As  capacity 
is  so  essential,  it  is  evident  that  the  Roman  nose, 
though  not  the  most  sightly,  is  the  best.  A 
straight  or  Grecian  nose  is  quite  enough,  if  not  too 
narrow.  An  indented  or  pug  nose  may  also  be 
capacious  enough,  but  you  must  see  that  it  is  not 
narrow.  If  you  suspect  its  capacity,  you  must 
remember  the  point  when  you  come  to  examine 
the  'wind.' 

THE  MOUTH. 

18. — As  we  have  already  said  all  that  is  neces- 
sary regarding  the  hps,  we  shall  speak  of  the 
mouth  as  that  cavity  which  contains  the  tongue ' 
and  the  teeth.  The  teeth  are  specially  regarded 
in  judging  horses  on  account  of  their  indicating 
the  age.  Horses,  like  ourselves,  have  two  sets  of 
teeth,  one  set  for  foalhood  and  a  second  for  ma- 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 


sr 


ture  age.  The  first  are  called  '  milk'  or  '  tempo- 
rary '  teeth,  and  the  second  set  are  called  '  perma- 
nent '  teeth.  The  teeth  of  the  same  mouth  are 
varied  in  position  and  shape,  and  receive  different 


Figure  4. 


names.  The  front  teeth  being  called  incisors  or 
'  nippers  ; '  the  back  teeth  being  called  '  grinders  ; ' 
while  between  the  two  sets  are  the  canine  teeth, 


28  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

which  are  called  '  tusks.'  As  the  nippers  and  tusks 
are  most  exposed  to  our  view  when  we  open  the 
mouth,  we  pay  most  regard  to  them,  so  in  speak-, 
ing  of  the  teeth  we  shall  mean  the  '  nippers.' 

17. — During  the  remainder  of  the  lesson  I 
must  often  draw  your  attention  to  the  diagrams 
of  Fig.  4  (page  27).  So  to  begin:  if  you  examine 
and  compare  a  temporary  tooth  A  B  with  a  per- 
manent tooth  C,  you  will  see  well  marked  differ- 
ences in  size,  shape,  and  colo7\  If  you  look  at 
the  front  vieiu  you  will  see  that  Avhile  the  milk 
or  temporary  tooth  is  quite  narrow  near  the  gum 
(Fig  4,  B)  (which  is  represented  by  a  straight  line 
in  the  figure),  the  permanent  tooth  is  seen  to  be 
nearly  as  wide  at  the  gum  as  at  the  upper  or  cut- 
ting surface  ;  so  that  a  milk  tooth  is  said  to  have 
a  neck,  whilst  a  i-yeynnanent  tooth  has  no  nech. 
You  will  see  the  permanent  teeth  are  a  very  little 
narrower  at  the  part  next  the  gum  than  they  are 
at  the  cutting  surface,  or,  in  other  words,  they 
have  no  neck.  Then  again,  the  permanent  teeth 
are  very  much  larger  tlmn  the  temporary  ones, 
and  are  not  nearly  so  white.  Then  again,  the 
temporary  teeth  are  quite  smooth  on  their  front 
surface.  Not  so  the  permanent  teeth.  In  the 
permanent  tooth  you  see  a  groove,  or  perhaps 
two  grooves,  running  from  their  cutting  suiface 
to  the  gum. 

18. — Having  determined  which  set  of  teeth  you 
are  examining,  let  us  now  consider  the  history  of 
each  set  in  its  turn. 

The  temporary  or  milk  teeth,  are  '  cut '  in  the 
following  order:     At  birth,  or  a  few  days  after. 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING  29 

two  central  nippers  appear.  At  six  weeks  old  two 
other  nippers  appear,  that  is,  one  on  each  side  of 
the  two  central  ones.  Between  the  sixth  and 
ninth  month  two  other  nippers  make  their  ap- 
pearance, one  on  each  side  of  the  last  ones  ;  and, 
as  no  others  make  their  appearance,  these  are 
called  the  corner  nippers,  so  that  at  last  we  have 
six  nippers.  Of  course,  six  above  and  six  below. 
Having  thus  cut  the  six  teeth  (and  we  are  only 
speaking  of  one  jaw),  the  foal  is  as  a  '  yearhng ' 
said  to  have  a  full  mouth. 

19. — During  this  first  year,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected, the  nippers  vary  in  appearance  ;  those 
cut  first  coming  to  maturity  first,  so  that  the 
central  teeth  which  have  attained  their  maturity 
at  two  months  present  a  strong  contrast  to  the 
ones  next  them  at  that  time,  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  are  only  a  fortnight  old.  When  the  nippers 
are  first  cut,  their  upper  cutting  surface  is  sharp 
like  a  knife,  and,  this  surface  meeting  the  surface 
of  the  teeth  in  the  other  jaw,  wears  away  until 
the  broader  part  of  the -tooth  is  come  upon,  and 
then,  instead  of  a  sharp  knife-hke  edge  we  get  a 
fiat  surface  hke  a  table-top.  Every  nipper  thus 
changes,  ahke  in  temporary  and  in  permanent 
teeth.  Therefore,  at  nine  months  old,  or  even  at 
twelve  months  old,  whilst  the  centre  nippers  and 
those  next  to  them  have  more  or  less  well  marked 
flat  table-top  cutting  surfaces,  the  corner  nippers 
have  still  shelly  knife-hke  upper  edges. 

The  upper  surfaces,  worn  fiat,  will  be  seen  to 
have  two  distinct  colors,  but  this  we  may  quite 
disregard  in  the  temporary  teeth,  and  pay  atten- 


30  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

tion  only  to  those  appearances  which  we  have 
already  named. 

It  will  be  seen  that  during  the  first  year  the 
nippers  are  nearly  useless  because  of  the  uneven 
surfaces  of  the  teeth,  some  only  being  useable. 
Then  again  the  mouth  is  very  tender  during  the 
cutting  of  the  teeth.  During  the  second  year  the 
foal  is  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  services  of  his 
nipper  teeth,  which  vary  mostly  in  the  degree  in 
which  they  are  worn  down.  Of  course,  the  in- 
nermost ones  being  first  cut,  first  come  into  use 
and  are  most  worn  down. 

These  temporary  nippers  begin  to  fall  out  or 
are  shed  at  the  age  of  two  and  a  half  years,  or 
from  that  to  three  years,  and  are  shed  in  the 
order  in  w^hich  they  came;  first,  the  central  ones, 
and  so  on,  so  that  we  may  say  a  foal  has  the  use 
of  his  temporary  or  milk  nippers  from  one  year 
old  to  two  and  a  half,  or  in  other  words,  so  far  as 
his  nippers  are  concerned,  he  has  a  '  full  mouth' 
from  one  year  old  to  two  and  a  half. 

20. — It  is  now  time  we  began  to  study  the  anat- 
omy of  the  permanent  teeth  in  a  rough  and 
ready  way.  We  cannot  get  out  of  it  if  we  wish 
to  be  sure  in  telling  a  horse's  age.  Now-a-days 
teachers  discard  pictures  as  worthless,  and  teach 
by  the  aid  of  diagrams,  so  that  you  are  not  to 
feel  your  vanity  touched  by  our  using  diagrams 
instead  of  pictures;  for  while  you  would  find  acres 
of  diagrams  in  our  great  Medical  and  Veterinary 
Medical  schools,  you  would  be  almost  able  to  car- 
ry on  your  back  aU  the  pictures  you  would  find. 
But  the  two  are  judiciously  combined  sometimes; 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  31 

the  diagram  to  show  the  broad  outlines  and  more 
evident  markings;  the  picture  to  exhibit  the 
detail. 

Still  referring  to  our  Fig.  4,  if  you  examine  a 
permanent  nipper  tooth,  when  it  is  extracted  and 
you  can  see  the  whole  of  it,  you  see  that  it  is  bent 
almost  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  (Fig.  4,  E).  In 
describing  the  tooth,  we  must  suppose  it  divided 
into  two  parts  ;  the  visible  part  and  the  invisible 
part.  The  visible  part  is  all  that  standing  above 
the  gums  and  is  called  the  crown :  the  invisible 
part  is  that  imbedded  in  the  jaw  and  covered  by 
the  gums,  and  is  called  the  fang.  By  studying 
the  anatomy  of  a  nipper  tooth  in  a  rough  way, 
we  can  judge  of  a  horse's  age  by  the  so-called 
'  marks'  of  his  teeth.  In  Fig.  4,  E,  is  a  section 
down  the  middle  of  a  nipper  tooth  from  front  to 
back.  Let  the  line  a  a  represent  the  Hne  of  the 
gums,  then  all  above  this  is  the  '  crown'  and  aU 
below  it  the  '  fang.'  The  great  bulk  of  the  tooth 
is  seen  to  be  made  up  of  the  part  indicated  by  the 
number  3,  and  is  called  the  dentine.  This  sub- 
stance has  a  coating  of  a  substance  termed 
*  enamel'  {E  2),  for  the  part  of  the  tooth  above  the 
gum  or  the  '  crown, '  but  where  the  tooth  gets 
fixed  into  its  bony  socket  in  the  jaw,  the  '  den- 
tine' is  not  covered  by  '  enamel'  as  in  the  '  crown,' 
but  by  a  very  thin  layer  of  bone,  JE'G,  called  ^  crus- 
ta  petrosa.'  This  is  a  long  hard  name,  but  we 
have  done  with  it.  Now  pay  attention  exclu- 
sively to  the  crown  of  the  tooth  (the  part  above 
the  gum  hne  a  a),  and  you  see  that  the  enamel 
E  2,  after  reaching  the  cutting  surface  of  the 


32  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

tooth,  dips  into  the  tooth  and  forms  a  Uttle  sack- 
like cavity  filled  up  with  black  material  {E  5). 
Now  suppose  you  cut  off  with  a  saw  a  piece  of 
the  cutting  surface,  say  through  the  line  Ell 
then  you  see  on  the  surface  of  such  a  section  in 
their  order  either  way  : — 

Enamel  :    Dentine  :     Enamel  :    I    Enamel :  Dentine  :  Enamel. 

And  you  must  remember  the  ^  enamel'  is  white, 
and  the  '  dentine'  gray.  Now  see  if  you  can  make 
out  these  in  Fig.  4,  D,  which  shows  four  sections 
of  a  tooth,  such  as  we  made  at  ^  1  1.  Notice 
the  four  sections  of  this  tooth,  and  you  see  in  the 
top  section  the  appearances  we  have  described 
very  distinctly.  You  see  the  outer  rim  of  white 
enamel  which  is  called  encircling  enamel:  then  a 
broad  circle  of  grciy  dentine:  then  a  small  circle 
of  enamel  called  the  central  enamel,  and  this 
encloses  the  black  material  in  the  centre.  So 
much  for  the  top  section,  but  before  drawing  your 
attention  to  the  three  sections  below,  I  must  first 
tell  you  that  a  nipper  tooth  gets  gradually  nar- 
roiver  from  the  cutting  surface  to  the  end  of  its 
fang,  and  whilst  at  its  largest,  from  five  or  six 
years  old  to  seven  or  eight,  its  upper  cutting  sur- 
face is  somewhat  ovoid,  with  the  long  axis  from 
side  to  side  having  two  sharp  angles  in  front  at 
either  end.  From  this  ovoid  form  it  gradually 
becomes  triangular,  and  it  only  remains  to  add 
that  the  dei3ression  in  the  tooth  filled  up  by  black 
material  only  reaches  a  little  way  down  the  tooth, 
and  then  you  will  be  able  to  refer  to  the  three 
lower  sections  of  Fig.  4,  D,  to  see  the  change  in 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  33 

the  aspects  of  the  marks  themselves  and  in  the 
form  of  the  tooth  at  each  surface  as  the  teeth 
wear  down  through  age  and  use  from  a  broad 
ovoid  form  to  a  narrow  triangular  form;  and,  as 
a  consequence,  in  a  very  aged  horse,  the  teeth  do 
not  present  a  compact  mass  when  viewed  from 
the  front,  but  are  more  iike  so  many  pegs  with 
spaces  between  them. 

Lastly,  on  separating  the  lips  of  a  horse  in  his 
prime,  and  viewing  the  closed  teeth  from  the  side, 
we  see  the  large  bold  curve,  as  in  Fig.  4,  F ;  but 
as  age  advances  and  the  teeth  wear  away,  we 
get  successively,  but  of  course  gradually,  the 
curve  O,  then  in  extreme  old  age  the  angular 
curve  H. 

21. — We  saw  that  with  the  milk  teeth  the  cen- 
tral nippers  came  first,  then  the  two  next  them — 
one  on  either  side — and  finally  the  two  corner 
milk  nippers,  and  at  nine  months  old  to  a  year  at 
most  the  foal  had  a  ^  full  mouth '  of  nippers. 
First  come,  first  wear  out;  therefore  the  two  cen- 
tral milk  nippers  are  shed  at  two  and  a  half  years; 
the  ones  next  these  are  shed  at  three  and  a  half, 
the  corner  nippers  at  four  and  a  half.  So  that  at 
five  years  old — that  is  giving  the  corner  teeth  six 
months  to  grow  up  to  having  at  least  a  cutting  if 
not  a  grinding  surface — the  horse  is  said  to  have 
a  full  mouth. 

Note. — The  permanent  teeth  push  out  the  tem- 
porary ones,  in  order  to  gain  the  situation  for 
themselves.  If  the  work  of  pushing  out  is  done 
for  them  they  come  up  easier  and  quicker.     This 


34:  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

gives  rise  to  a  process  of  ^forwarding  the  mouth,' 
as  it  is  called,  that  is  extracting  the  corner  milk 
nippers  of  a  three  year  old  in  order  to  hasten  the 
arrival  of  the  full  mouth  that  a  four  year  old  may 
pass  for  a  five  year  old.  This  is  a  gross  cruelty, 
on  account  of  the  work  of  a  five  year  old  being 
expected  of  a  horse  only  four.  Should  a  perma- 
nent tooth  not  push  straight  at  the  fang  of  a 
milk  tooth,  the  latter  is  pushed  on  one  side,  but 
not  pushed  out,  and  so  remains  by  the  side  of  the 
permanent  tooth  and  may  hinder  the  horse  feed- 
ing to  some  extent.  Such  a  tooth  is  then  called 
a  *wolf '  tooth.  Wolf  teeth  are  oftenest  found 
in  front  of  the  front  grinders. 


LESSON  III. 

THE  EYE. 

22.— We  now  come  to  one  of  the  four  principal 
things  which  you  hare  to  see  is  sound  and  all 
right  in  buying  a  horse — namely,  the  eye.  First 
take  a  glance  at  both  eyes  in  good  daylight^ 
and  compare  their  size.  It  is  of  the  highest  im- 
portance that  they  should  be  both  one  size,  be- 
cause if  one  is  less  than  the  other  it  is  very  likely 
that  the  lesser  one  has  been  attacked  with  in- 
flammation which  is  called  'opthalmia.'  Now 
^  opthalmia '  is  a  disease  that  returns  again  and 
again,  and  destroys  the  sight.  One  of  its  effects 
is  very  often  to  leave  the  eye  it  has  attacked 
smaller  than  its  fellow.  It  also  leaves  other  evi- 
dences, but  these  require  a  properly  qualified 
veterinarian  to  discover. 

The  color  of  the  two  eyes  may  not  be  alike  and 
yet  the  eyes  may  be  quite  sound.  The  color  of 
the  eye  depends  upon  the  coloring  matter  in  the 
iris,  a  structure  to  be  spoken  of  by  and  by.  It 
may  be  absent  in  one  iris,  and  brown  or  some 
other  color  in  the  other  iris.  The  iris  which  con- 
tains no  coloring  matter  will  be  white,  and  the 
horse  is  thus  said  to  have  a  'wall'  eye.  This 
white  or  '  wall '  eye  is  as  good  as  its  f eUow-eye, 
but  it  gives  the  horse  an  odd  appearance  which  at 


36  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

best  is  unsightly,  but  still  ^wall'  eyes  may  be 
quite  sound. 

23. — Whilst  you  are  looking  at  the  eyes  in  broad 
daylight,  notice  if  the  eyelids  are  all  right.  Some- 
times they  get  torn  with  projecting  nails  and  are 
injured  to  such  an  extent  that  they  cannot  cover 
and  protect  the  eye.  Also  notice  if  the  tears  run 
over  the  cheek.  The  tears  are  formed  under  the 
upper  eyelid,  but  deep  in  the  orbit  or  socket  of 
the  eye,  and  wet  the  surface  of  the  eye  and  then 
find  their  way  to  the  inner  corner  of  the  eye  and 
thence  through  a  canal  into  the  nose.  It  occa- 
sionally happens  that  this  canal  gets  blocked  up, 
and  then  the  tears  cannot  get  into  the  nose  and 
so  escape. 

When  this  is  the  case,  they  trickle  out  of 
the  eye  corner  and  over  the  face,  and  scald  the 
hair  off.  This  is  often  a  curable  condition,  but 
very  objectionable  whilst  it  lasts.  You  will  say 
'  how  is  it  that  we  do  not  find  the  tears  coming 
out  of  the  nostrils  if  they  escape  into  the  nostrils 
as  they  do  in  the  horse  and  in  ourselves.'  Well, 
because  in  health — except  of  course  when  we  cry 
— the  tears  are  only  formed  in  sufficient  quantity 
to  keep  the  eye  moist,  just  as  the  hning  of  the 
nose  only  forms  sufficient  watery  material  to 
keep  it  moist  and  no  more.  When  there  is  more 
than  suffices  for  the  purpose  we  are  said  to  have 
got  a  *cold.' 

2i. — Having  examined  the  eyes  in  broad  day- 
light, you  will  have  to  examine  them  luith  a  can- 
dle within  a  stable  with  the  door  shut.  If  you 
can  have  a  choice,  choose  a  stable  that  has  a  win- 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 


37 


dow  above  the  stable  door,  as  it  will  be  a  further 
aid  ill  using  the  candle. 

25. — Before  going  further  we  shall  have  to 
study  the  mechanism  of  the  eye  roughly,  or  we 
shall  not  understand  what  to  look  for  and  expect. 

Figure  5. 


In  Fig.  5  you  find  diagrams  that  will  aid  us  in 
demonstrating  the  more  important  parts  of  the 
eye.  When  standing  in  front  of  the  horse  and 
viewing  the  eye,  you  can  see  an  outer  circle  rep- 
resenting what  is  called  the  white  of  the  eye,  and 


38  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

is  really  the  outer  coYering  of  the  eyeball.  Per- 
haps you  will  understand  it  better  if  we  take  an 
example.  Suppose  you  take  an  orange,  and  cut 
a  round  piece  of  the  skin  or  peel  out  about  the 
size  of  a  half-crown  piece,  the  whole  of  the  peel, 
or  skin,  which  remains  bears  the  same  relation  to 
the  orange  that  the  outer  coat,  or  white,  bears  to 
the  eyeball;  that  is  to  say, the  skin  which  remains 
of  the  orange,  and  the  white  tunic  of  the  eye  in 
each  case  invests  five  parts  out  of  six  perhaps  of 
its  respective  sphere. 

We  must  make  our  orange  do  further  service. 
"When  we  have  taken  out  the  piece  of  the  skin  we 
find  the  white  rind  underneath.  Take  a  penknife 
and  cut  a  hole  in  this  white  part,  the  same  as  in 
Fig.  6  J.  5;  the  hole  we  cut  will  represent  the 
opening  known  as  the  ^  pupil '  through  which  the 
light  passes  into  the  eye.  The  remaining  broad 
rim  of  white  rind  (Fig.  5.  A  2)  will  represent  the 
iris.  Now  if  you  have  a  watch-glass,  the  size  of 
half-a-crown,  and  place  it  over  the  hole  from 
which  you  at  first  cut  the  skin,  the  watch-glass 
v^ll  represent  that  glass-like  covering  of  the  eye 
which  we  call  the  '  cornea. '  I  fear  we  shall  have 
to  draw  rather  largely  on  our  imagination  to  caiTy 
our  illustration  further.  Let  us  see.  Suppose 
you  have  a  pair  of  spectacles  with  round  glasses 
instead  of  oval  ones,  and  you  could  remove  one 
of  these  glasses,  and  (without  ruptiu-ing  our  arti- 
ficial '  iris ')  you  could  thrust  it  through  the  '  pu- 
pil '  and  place  it  immediately  at  the  back  of  the 
^ iris, 'this  glass  lens  would  then  represent  the 
*  lens  '  of  the  eye.     Just  a  little  further  stretch  of 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  39 

the  imagination,  then  no  more.  When  you  took 
the  lens  out  of  the  spectacles  (in  imagination  of 
course)  you  found  it  surrounded  by  the  iron,  sil- 
ver or  gold  rim  which  held  it.  You  have  placed 
the  lens  in  the  orange  as  described,  and  now  in 
place  of  a  metal  rim  around  it,  suppose  we  have 
a  sheet-like  muscle  encircling  the  lens,  and  that 
the  outer  edge,  all  round,  of  this  sheet-like  muscle, 
is  fixed  to  the  interior  of  the  orange  peel  a  little 
further  back  than  the  lens. 

We  now  look  at  Fig.  5,  7),  and  we  find  the  dia- 
gram of  a  real  eye  in  section.  Now,  you  will  see 
the  parts  marked  in  the  diagram  as  we  have  de- 
scribed them.  First:  the  greater  part  of  the 
outer  coat  (five-sixths  we  said)  is  formed  by  the 
ivliite  tunic  of  the  eye  called  the  white  of  the  eye 
(Fig.  5,  D  1).  The  remainder  of  the  circle  (our 
watch-glass)  is  the  ^  cornea '  (Fig.  6,  D  c),  then 
behind  this  we  have  the  iris  D  I.  Then  behind 
this  again  the  lens  D.  I.  with  its  muscle,  the  cil- 
iary muscle  {D  2). 

Let  us  describe  the  remainder  of  the  eye  by  the 
aid  of  the  lower  diagram  we  are  now  looking  at. 
That  very  large  space  marked  V  H  is  filled  by  a 
transparent  jelly-like  substance  called  the  vitreous 
humor.  Then  you  see  the  nerve  of  sight  as  it 
comes  from  the  brain  {D,  o  n)  piercing  the  back 
of  the  white  outer  tunic  like  the  end  of  a  lead- 
pencil,  and  when  it  has  gained  the  inner  part  of 
the  tunic  it  spreads  out  like  a  sheet  of  tissue 
paper,  and  lines  the  back  of  the  white  tunic  in- 
side and  is  known  as  the  ^  retina '  {DR).  In  this 
thin  filmy  sheet  or  ^retina,'  close  to  the  optic 


40  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

nerve,  is  a  little  body  called  the  yellow  spot  {D 
YS). 

26.— So  much  for  the  eyeball.  Now  let  us  see 
how  it  is  moved.  The  eyeball  is  imbedded  in  the 
bony  skull  in  a  socket  or  case,  partly  of  bone, 
called  the  ^  orbit,' and  being  very  delicate,  this 
bony  orbit  is  filled  with  fat  (Fig.  5,  D),  in  which 
the  eyeball  is  imbedded.  In  old  horses  and  dur- 
ing illness  this  fat  wastes  away  and  allows  the 
eyeball  to  sink  in  its  socket.  There  are  five  or 
six  muscles  (Fig.  5,  m  m)  to  move  the  eye.  The 
ends  of  each  muscle  are  attached,  one  to  the  bony 
socket  the  other  to  the  white  outer  tunic.  We 
have  only  two  of  these  muscles  depicted  on  the 
diagram,  but  in  real  life  one  muscle  is  attached 
to  the  upper  part  of  the  eye  ;  one  to  the  lower; 
one  to  the  inner  or  nose  side;  one  on  the  outer 
side.  So  that  when  the  top  one  contracts  the  eye 
looks  upwards,  and  so  forth.  There  are  two 
other  muscles  obliquely  i^Aeiced  for  rolling  the  eye, 
but  these  we  will  not  consider.  The  four  muscles 
named  are  called  the  four  straight  muscles,  and 
when  they  all  contract  at  once,  the  eyeball  is 
pressed  back  into  the  socket  and  the  '  haw '  (Fig. 
5,  D),  which  is  a  thin  piece  of  grissle  also  imbed- 
ded in  the  fat  and  whose  edge  can  always  be  seen 
on  the  inner  angle  of  the  eye,  is  pressed  or 
squeezed  out  of  the  fat  and  made  to  project  over 
the  eye. 

27. — We  must  now  turn  our  attention  to  the 
front  half  of  the  eye  as  we  see  it  in  the  living 
animal,  because  it  is  this  we  have  to  examine 
with  the  candle  in  the  darkened  stable.      Still 


LESSONS  IN   HORSE  JUDGING.  41 

referring  to  the  diagram,  let  us  study  the  parts 
in  their  order,  beginning  at  the  transparent  ^  cor- 
nea' (our  watch-glass). 

The  light  has  first  of  all  to  pass  through  the 
cornea  before  it  can  pass  through  the  hole  we 
call  the  'pupil,'  and  if  the  cornea  receives  any 
injury,  as  it  often  does  from  the  whip,  spots  may 
be  left  which  will  split  the  light  or  otherwise  daze 
the  animal  and  make  him  shy.  If,  however, 
these  spots  are  on  the  outer  margin  and  not  op- 
posite the  pupil,  it  is  plain  that  the  light  will  not 
be  interfered  with,  or,  in  other  words,  the  spots 
are  of  less  consequence. 

Covering  the  outer  tunic  or  white  of  the  eye, 
there  is  a  very  dehcate  membrane  we  have  not 
mentioned,  but  which  holds  many  blood  vessels. 
This  is  called  the  'conjunctiva,'  and  is  that  we 
see  so  red  when  the  eyes  are  'bloodshot.'  If  a 
hay-seed  gets  into  the  eye  this  membrane  red- 
dens, and  the  eyelids  sweU  and  are  kept  closed, 
and  are  suffused  with  tears.  It  is  this  membrane 
that  is  attacked  in  inflammation  of  the  eye,  so 
that  you  must  see  that  it  is  not  unduly  red.  In 
such  horses  there  is  a  great  quantity  of  dark  col- 
oring matter  in  it,  so  that  the  white  of  the  eye  is 
partly  hidden  behind  it.  This  dark  appearance  is 
quite  natural. 

28. — We  now  come  to  the  two  most  important 
structures  of  the  eye,  and  without  we  know  a 
•Igood  deal  about  them  we  cannot  judge  a  horse 
thoroughly,  but  may  be  woefully  cheated  in  pur- 
chasing a  horse  where  we  cannot  call  to  our  aid  a 
skilled  expert  or  veterinarian.     The  first  of  these 


42  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGINa. 

two  structures  is  the  ^  iris/  which  acts  hke  a  cur- 
tain to  a  window,  and  is  really  the  curtain  of  the 
eye.  It  is  a  very  dehcate  moving  muscle,  flat- 
tened Hke  a  sheet  of  paper  and  ovoid,  having  an 
ovoid  hole  in  its  very  centre  (Fig.  5,  A  5),  wliich, 
as  we  have  seen,  is  the  '  pupil '  of  the  eye  through 
which  the  light  passes.  Now  this  hole,  or  pupil, 
varies  much  in  size.  When  the  eye  is  exposed  to 
a  bright  light  it  becomes  very  small,  but  in  the 
dark  it  enlarges  to  its  widest;  This  is  well  seen 
in  ourselves,  but  better  seen  in  the  cat.  Put  a 
cat  before  a  window  and  you  find  the  pupil 
diminishmg  almost  to  the  size  of  a  pin  point. 
Then  this  muscle  acts  by  enlarging  or  diminish- 
ing the  'pupil.'  It  does  so  in  this  way:  Fig.  5, 
Ay  2,  represents  the  iris  as  viewed  from  behind. 
It  is  seen  to  be  made  up  of  inner  circular  fibres 
which  radiate  from  these.  When  the  pupil  les- 
sens, it  is  by  the  circular  fibres  contracting,  but 
when  it  widens  it  is  by  the  radiating  fibres  con- 
tracting. What  we  have  to  do  in  the  darkened 
stable  is  to  see  that  the  'pupil'  diminishes  and 
enlarges  freely.  For  this  purpose  we  cover  the 
eye  with  our  hand  to  darken  it  for  half  a  minute 
or  so  when  we  expect  the  'pupil'  will  dilate; 
then  we  place  the  candle  close  to  the  back  of  the 
hand  that  is  covering  the  eye  and  suddenly  re- 
move the  hand  and  watch  the  pupil  contract, 
which  it  ought  to  do  from  the  glare  of  the  light 
being  too  much  for  the  eye.  In  a  darkened 
stable,  and  a  candle  held  away  from  the  eye,  you 
will  still  see  the  pupil  widenhig  and  narrowing, 
which  is,  of  course,  a  sign  that  it  is  in  good  order 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  43 

and  capable  of  acting  as  a  curtain  and  keeping 
out  bright  glare,  which  dazes  the  animal.  It 
widens  and  admits  all  light  possible  when  there 
is  not  much  light  to  spare.  When  the  pupil  is 
very  widely  open  it  gives  the  eye  a  glassy  appear- 
ance, and  should  this  condition  be  permanent,  as 
you  will  have  seen  it,  no  doubt,  the  disease  called 
Amaurosis,  gutta  serena,  or  glass-eye  is  present, 
and  the  eye  is  worthless.  It  may  be  from  disease 
of  the  brain. 

Instead  of  being  fixedly  open,  the  pupil  may  be 
fixed  and  quite  immoveable  and  closed,  or  nearly 
so.  This  serious  flaw  arises  in  this  way.  When 
violent  inflammation  seizes  the  eye  and  attacks 
the  '  iris, '  a  gluey  discharge  may  occur  from  the 
surfaces  of  the  ^iris,'  and  the  back  surface  of  the 
^  iris '  may  then  become  stuck  to  the  fore  part  of 
the  '  lens '  (see  Fig.  5,  J,  I). 

If  you  refer  to  the  diagram  of  the  iris  (Fig.  5, 
A),  you  wiU  see  two  or  three  little  black  bodies 
hanging  down  (Fig.  5,  A  4),  swinging  from  the 
roof  of  the  ^  pupil.'  These  are  quite  natural,  and 
appear  in  the  eyes  of  many  if  not  most  horses. 

We  now  come  to  the  lens,  which  we  repre- 
sented by  taking  out  a  glass  from  a  pair  of  spec- 
tacles. This  lens  (Fig.  5,  D,  I)  is  really  placed 
close  behind  the  ^  iris '  or  curtain,  and  is  for  the 
purpose  of  focusing  the  rays  of  light  so  that  they 
form  images  on  the  thin  membrane  we  have  be- 
fore spoken  of,  called  the  'retina.'  Get  a  pair  of 
spectacles,  or  a  magnifying  lens,  and  hold  it  in 
your  right  hand,  and  with  it  throw  a  bright  light 
from  a  window,  or  a  candle,  or  gas  jet  on  to  the 


44  LESSONS  IN  HOKSE  JUDGING. 

back  of  your  other  hand.  Now  move  the  lens 
gentlj  to  and  fro,  and  you  will  see  a  beautiful 
little  image  of  the  window  frame,  gas  jet,  or 
candle-light  (whichever  you  are  using)  on  the 
back  of  your  hand.  Now  you  have  got  this  per- 
fect image  by  moving  the  lens  backwards  and 
forwards  between  your  hand  and  the  light,  and 
you  will  have  found  that  correct  distance  is 
everything;  that  is  to  say,  had  you  held  the  lens 
an  inch  nearer  or  an  inch  further  off,  you  would 
not  have  got  a  sharp,  clear  image.  Now  look  at 
Fig.  5,  Z),  and  you  will  see  that  behind  the  ^  lens ' 
there  is  the  V  H,  or  space  filled  with  vitreous 
humor,  and  in  front  of  it  there  is  the  'iris,'  so 
that  it  is  quite  evident  that  the  '  lens '  of  the  eye 
cannot  be  moved  backwards  and  forwards,  an 
inch  forward  now,  an  inch  backward  then,  as 
you  have  done  in  your  experiment,  because  the 
whole  eye  is  only  about  an  inch  from  front  to 
back,  so  that  the  focusing  of  the  image  on  the 
'retina'  by  the  'lens'  must  be  accomphshed  in 
another  way  altogether,  and  in  this  way  the 
shape  of  the  '  lens '  itself  is  altered. 

29. — We  must  say  a  few  words  about  the  con- 
struction of  the  '  lens '  of  the  eye,  or  you  will  not 
luiderstand  what  is  meant  by  a  cataract,  so  that 
after  we  have  seen  how  the  '  lens '  is  made  we  can 
see  how  it  alters  its  shape  in  focusing.  Turning 
to  the  diagram  Fig.  5,  D  I,  you  see  that  the  lens 
of  the  eye  can  be  quite  well  represented  by  placing 
two  ordinary  old-fashioned  watch-glasses  together 
at  their  edges.  Now,  if  you  could  fill  the  cavity 
you  thus  form  with  stiff  but  very  transparent 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  45 

jelly,  you  would  thus  get  a  rough  representation 
of  the  lens  of  the  eye.  Now,  m  the  '  lens '  of  the 
eye,  our  two  watch-glasses  are  represented  by  a 
very  delicately  thin  pliable  membrane  called  the 
'capsule'  of  the  lens,  and  so  the  whole  'lens' 
being  firm,  but  pliable,  can  be  altered  in  shape  by 
the  '  ciliary  muscle, '  (Fig.  6,  D  2)  which  is,  as  we 
have  seen,  attached  around  its  margin,  so  that 
when  this  muscle  drags  the  lens  backwards  against 
the  stiff  '  vitreous  humour, '  the  foremost  half  of 
the  capsule  of  the  lens  (our  foremost  watch-glass) 
is  bent  like  a  bow  that  is  having  its  string  pulled 
in  the  act  of  shooting,  and  the  lens  is  thus  altered 
in  its  convexity  from  being  shaped  like  B  to 
being  shaped  like  (7,  Fig.  5. 

The  lens  of  the  eye  is  quite  clear  and  trans- 
parent like  glass,  when  in  health;  but  from  acci- 
dent, disease,  or  old  age,  it  may  become  opaque 
and  milky,  and  then  the  eye  is  said  to  have  a 
'cataract.'  'Cataract'  may  occur  from  a  horse 
falling  on  his  head  whilst  hunting,  or  in  rearing 
and  falling  back  and  knocking  the  head  violently 
against  the  ground  or  by  knocking  the  head  vio- 
lently against  the  top  of  a  doorway — any  violent 
blow  on  the  head,  in  fact.  It  does  so  by  rupturing 
the  capsule  of  the  lens  (one  of  our  watch-glasses) 
and  letting  in  the  '  watery  humor '  which  occu- 
pies the  front  chamber  of  the  eye,  and  which  is 
marked  x  x  x  x  in  our  diagram  (Fig.  5,  D). 
When  the  'watery  humor'  gets  into  the  sub- 
stance of  the  '  lens '  through  a  rent  in  the  capsule, 
the  'lens'  immediately  begins  to  swell  and  be- 
come milky  and  opaque,  and  in  a  day  or  two  the 


4:6  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

whole  lens  is  swollen  and  white  like  milk.  Dis- 
ease causes  'cataract,'  notably  that  disease  in 
which  a  patient  passes  quantities  of  sugar  with 
his  water.  Old  age  produces  'cataract,'  by  the 
lens  shrinking  and  altering  its  proper  structure. 

When  the  '  cataract '  is  complete,  that  is  to  say, 
when  the  whole  lens  is  affected,  you  see  the  milky 
white  lens  through  the  pupil,  or  in  other  words, 
the  opening  called  the  pupil,  instead  of  being 
black  as  midnight,  has  a  chalky  or  white  appear- 
ance. 

But  the  'cataract'  may  not  be  complete;  that 
is,  only  part  of  the  'lens'  may  be  white  and 
opaque.  A  'cataract'  may  be  no  larger  than  a 
pin's  head,  and  may  be  situated  in  any  part  of 
the  'lens.' 

30. — To  test  the  lens  we  use  our  lighted  candle 
in  our  darkened  stable.  The  test  is  called  the 
'catoptric  test,'  and  is  very  easily  applied.  You 
take  the  candle  and  place  it  a  little  in  front  of  the 
eye,  a  few  inches  from  it,  when  you  see  three 
images  of  the  candle-light;  one  upon  the  surface 
of  the  'cornea,'  one  upon  the  front  capsule  of  the 
'lens,'  (our  front  watch-glass,)  and  the  third  still 
further  back,  upon  the  hindmost  capsule  of  the 
lens,  (our  hindmost  watch-glass).  Now,  after 
you  have  distinctly  found  these  three  images, 
notice  that  the  tiuo  front  ones  are  upright  like 
the  candle-flame,  but  the  hindmost  image  is  iip- 
side  doivn.  After  quite  making  out  this  fact, 
gently  move  your  light  from  side  to  side,  and 
you  will  see  that  while  the  two  front  upright 
images  move  in  the  same  direction  as  the  candle. 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  47 

the  hindmost  one,  which  is  turned  upside  down, 
moves  in  the  contrary  way  to  the  candle.  It  is 
therefore  evident  that  if  the  ^  lens '  is  opaque  and 
milky  you  cannot  see  the  hindmost  or  inverted 
image,  but  you  will  only  see  the  two  foremost 
upright  images. 

The  cataract,  as  we  have  seen,  may  not  involve 
the  whole  lens,  but  may  be  just  a  little  speck  in 
any  part  of  it.  Of  course,  if  this  speck  be 
towards  the  margin  it  may  not  split  the  light 
and  so  be  a  detriment,  but  we  never  can  tell  how 
long  a  small  speck  of  cataract  will  remain  small. 
With  practice  you  can  detect  these  small  specks 
by  the  ^catoptric  test,'  but  they  are  far  more 
easily  detected  with  a  little  round  mirror  having 
a  little  hole  in  its  centre  for  you  to  look  through, 
which  forms  the  reflecting  part  of  every  opthal- 
moscope.  Any  one  can  us^  this  very  simple  con- 
trivance by  holding  it  to  his  eye  and  reflecting 
the  rays  of  a  candle  into  the  eye — the  candle 
being  held  by  the  side  of  the  head  by  some  one 
else. 

We  have  seen  that  the  ^  iris '  from  inflamma- 
tion may  become  stuck  to  the  lens  and  so  fixed. 
But  the  '  iris '  being  a  moving  muscle,  sometimes 
drags  and  tears  itself  away,  and  in  so  liberating 
itself,  leaves  bits  of  its  structure  upon  the  lens, 
which  will  also  appear  like  small  cataracts.  In 
doing  so  it  sometimes  tears  the  capsule  and  lets 
in  the  watery  humor,  and  so  causes  cataract. 

This  ends  our  lesson  on  the  eye.  It  only  re- 
mains for  me  to  advise  close  attention  to  what 
has  been  said,  and  to  advise  the  learner  to  take 


48  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

every  opportunity  of  verifying  his  knowledge 
and  noticing  the  many  infirmities  he  ^vill  meet 
with,  and  studying  them  by  the  broad  hght 
which  we  have  here  attempted  to  shed  upon  the 
subject.  There  are  other  methods  of  thoroughly 
examining  the  eye,  but  these  are  only  of  use  to 
experts,  surgeons,  and  veterinary  surgeons,  who 
are  devoting  their  hves  to  such  subjects. 

Caution. — Do  not  mistake  the  optic  nerve  which 
can  be  seen  through  the  pupil  of  the  horse  for  a 
cataract,  but  which  is  distinguished  by  the  ^ca- 
toptric test.' 

Note, — The  whole  retina  Fig.  5,  D  R,  receives 
images  except  the  end  of  the  optic  nerve  itself. 
To  prove  this  close  your  left  eye  by  placing  your 
left  hand  over  it,  then  hold  Fig.  5  at  arm's  length 
and  look  fixedly  at  the  cross,  and  you  see  the 
black  spot  as  well.  Now,  still  looking  at  the 
cross,  move  it  gently  towards  you,  and  as  it  ap- 
proaches your  face  the  black  spot  for  a  time 
ceases  to  be  seen.  The  distance  is  generally 
seven  or  eight  inches  from  the  face. 


LESSON  lY. 

FACE    AND    HEAD. 

31. — Having  passed  in  review  the  nostrils, 
mouth,  and  eye,  we  must  now  review  the  face 
and  head.  We  shall  find  that  the  face,  as  seen 
from  the  front,  is  of  paramount  importance  in 
judging  a  horse,  because  the  old  saying,  ^  strength 
goes  in  at  the  mouth,'  is  as  true  to-day  as  it  ever 
was.  The  saying,  of  course,  has  reference  to  the 
quantity  and  quality  of  food  that  is  consumed. 
Now,  no  matter  how  much  food  is  swallowed, 
unless  it  be  of  proper  quality  and  so  prepared  by 
mastication  or  otherwise  that  the  stomach  can, 
in  its  turn,  fm?ther  advantageously  dispose  of  it, 
strength  will  not  follow.  In  order  that  large 
quantities  of  well  masticated  food  may  be  swal- 
lowed, the  back  teeth,  or  ^grinders,'  must  have 
the  following  properties:  they  must  have  large, 
flat,  and  regular  masticating  surfaces. 

But  you  will  say,  what  has  all  this  got  to  do 
with  the  front  aspect  of  the  face  ?  The  reply  is,  a 
great  deal,  but  you  are  not  asked  to  take  this 
bare  assertion  on  trust.  It  is  of  the  highest  im- 
portance that  you  should  understand  the  con- 
ditions requisite  for  the  '  grinders '  to  have  large, 
flat,  and  regular  masticating  surfaces.     But  you 


50 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 


will  have  to  follow  the  description,  as  you  did  in 
the  case  of  the  eye,  before  you  can  understand. 

The  molar  teeth  or  grinders  (Fig.  6,  -4  1  1)  are 
very  large  cubical  blocks  of  bone  which  have  to 
crush  and  grind  down  hard  tough  food,  such  as 

Figure  6. 


beans,  oats  and  hay,  and  therefore  require  power- 
ful agents  in  the  form  of  huge  muscles  to  work 
them;  so  that,  you  see,  where  you  have  such 
large  blocks  and  such  large  powers  to  move 
them,  you  must  have  room  or  space  sufficient 
for  both.    But  it  so  happens  that  lightness  is  also 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  51 

required,  and  greatest  lightness  implies  least  ma- 
terial, and  with  least  material  it  must  be  dis- 
posed or  shaped  according  to  well-known  geo- 
metrical laws;  if  you  require  the  three  conditions 
in  one,  namely,  size,  strength,  and  lightness,  these 
geometrical  laws  are  carried  out  at  the  expense  of 
room  or  space  if  not  in  one  direction,  in  another. 
If  you  refer  to  Fig.  6,  A,  you  will  see  a  perfect 
model  of  hghtness  and  strength.  It  is  the  dia- 
gramatic  representation  of  a  section  of  a  horse's 
head  and  jaws  carried  from  above  downwards 
across  the  head,  somewhat  below  the  eyes.  The 
four  pieces  marked  1 1  1 1,  represent  four  molar 
teeth  or  grinders,  two  in  the  upper  and  two  in 
the  lower  jaw.  They  have  all  flat  table-top 
grinding  surfaces,  the  top  one  meeting  a  cor- 
responding bottom  one.  Those  of  the  lower  jaw 
are  set  in  soUd  bone,  which  is  rendered  light  by 
being  shaped  like  the  letter  V,  that  is  to  say, 
having  two  branches  meeting  below.  The  front 
part  in  our  diagram  being  removed,  we  can  only 
see  the  section  of  the  two  parts  of  the  lower  jaw 
each  holding  a  molar.  Above  the  upper  jaw  are 
the  large  passages  through  which  the  air  passes 
A  X  X,  and  are  nearly  hoUow  and  form  the  back 
part  of  the  bony  nostrils,  but  the  cavities  Y  Y 
are  only  there  to  aUow  of  the  bone  being  as  light 
as  possible,  and  as  cavities  are  quite  worthless. 
The  upper  jaw  forms  an  arch,  having  substantial 
buttresses  in  the  molar  teeth  and  their  bony 
sockets,  and  whose  span  is  of  gigantic  strength 
and  extremely  light  from  its  hollow  construc- 
tion. 


52  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

If  you  notice  a  horse  eating,  you  will  see  that 
the  lower  jaw  is  pressed  upwards  against  the 
ui3j)er  jaw,  and  moves  from  side  to  side.  If  the 
movement  of  the  lower  jaw  on  the  upper  one 
were  a  simple  up  and  down  movement,  then  the 
muscles  could  be  perpendicularly  placed  and  their 
bulk  only  allowed  for,  but  seeing  that  the  lower 
jaw  has  to  be  moved  from  side  to  side,  the  mus- 
cles have  to  be  obliquely  placed  and  so  neces- 
sitates the  branches  of  the  jaw  being  wide  apart 
at  their  hindmost  part.  But  the  lower  grinders 
are  somewhat  narrower  than  the  upper  and  so 
allow  greater  range  of  motion  in  grinding,  so 
that  breadth  of  the  upper  jaw  is  essential  as 
well  for  allowing  free  masticating  power,  as  for 
power  to  breathe  freely  through  wide  enough 
openings. 

32.-^This  then  necessitates  width  between  the 
eyes,  and  width  between  the  lower  jaws.  In  the 
figure  illustrating  this  lesson  you  will  find  three 
diagrams,  B,  C,  D,  representing  front  face  views 
of  three  degrees  of  width.  What  has  been  said 
will  explain  why  narrow-faced  horses  are  often 
weakly,  with  narrow  chests  and  long  legs,  and 
disposed  to  have  ^  thrushes '  in  the  '  frogs '  of 
their  fore  feet,  and  are  also  prone  to  diarrhoea. 
It  would  be  beyond  the  province  of  this  little 
book  to  enter  into  a  lengthened  explanation 
of  these  coincidences  and  shorter  exj^lanations 
would  not  suffice. 

33. — The  side  face  should  be  deep  for  the  same 
reasons  that  the  front  face  between  the  eyes 
should   be    broad,   that    is,   for    roomy  nostrils 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  53 

above  and  for  the  efficient  setting  of  the  mass- 
ive grinders. 

3:1:. — Length  of  head  is  not  of  such  importance. 
It  cannot  well  be  too  short  so  far  as  the  chief 
requisites  are  concerned.  When  we  find  very- 
narrow  faces,  we  frequently  find  length  of  face 
great. 

35.— The  so-called  forehead  of  a  horse  is  the 
space  bounded  below  by  a  straight  line  drawn  be- 
tween the  eyes,  above  by  roots  of  the  hair  of  the 
forelock,  and  at  the  sides  by  the  large  muscles 
which  lift  the  lower  against  the  upper  one.  The 
breadth  of  the  forehead  depends  upon  the 
breadth  between  the  eyes  and  the  size  of  these 
muscles.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  judge  the 
size  of  the  brain  in  the  living  horse  by  breadth  of 
forehead.  Size  of  brain  is  no  index  of  character 
in  either  horse  or  man.  In  either  case,  we  can 
only  judge  of  a  brain  by  the  quality  and  quantity 
of  the  thought,  and  so  forth,  it  produces,  so  that 
we  need  not  dwell  further  on  the  physical  aspects 
of  the  head. 

36. — The  eyes  should  be  as  large  as  possible, 
and  not  be  obliquely  set  in  the  face  as  in  the  Chi- 
nese. In  long,  narrow-faced  horses  we  some- 
times find  this  obliquity  of  the  eyes,  and  this 
is  an  additional  flaw. 

37. — The  white  of  the  eye  should  not  be  too 
conspicuous.  When  too  conspicuous  it  gives  to 
both  man  and  horse  a  wild  stare,  and  is  an  almost 
unfailing  sign  of  mental  aberrations,  which  lead 
to  acts  which  we  characterise  as  vice,  such  as 
biting,  kicking,  &c.      The  white  of  the  eye  is 


64  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

seen,  not  on  account  of  there  being  more  of  it 
than  usual,  but  on  account  of  the  eyehds  being 
wider  apart.  This  condition  is  known  to  doctors 
as  the  insane  eye,  and  is  seen  by  the  least  observ- 
ant by  attending  Divine  worship  in  any  lunatic 
asylum  chapel  and  sitting  near  the  parson.  This 
condition  has  been  so  connected  with  viciousness 
in  the  horse,  that  in  Yorkshire  it  is  a  common 
expression  among  horsemen,  ''He  shows  too 
much  of  the  white  of  his  eye  for  my  money."  I 
would,  however,  guard  you  against  condemning 
all  horses  with  this  form  of  eye  as  vicious,  but 
have  a  special  warranty  against  vice  in  purchas- 
ing one,  and  at  all  times  avoid  such  when  you 
conveniently  can. 

38. — The  space  between  the  lower  jaws  near 
the  top  of  the  neck  cannot  be  too  wide,  for 
reasons  we  have  before  seen.  There  is  also 
another  reason  why  the  branches  of  the  lower 
jaw  should  be  wide  apart.  The  top  of  the  wind- 
pipe ends  in  the  speaking  box  called  the  'larynx.' 
It  is  much  larger  than  the  remainder  of  the 
windpipe,  and  in  men  can  be  seen  and  felt  as  a 
large  hard  prominence  which  moves  up  and 
down  when  we  swallow.  It  is  also  called 
pomnm  Adami,  or  Adam's  apple.  When  the 
nose  is  held  in  towards  the  neck  by  the  bearing- 
rein  being  over  tight,  this  deUcate  box,  which  is 
made  up  of  pieces  of  hard  cartilage,  moved  by 
numerous  deUcate  muscles,  gets  pressed  out  of 
shape  and  causes  roaring,  or  grunting,  or  trum- 
peting. 

This  box  is  quite  between  the  branches  of  the 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  65 

jaw  in  most  positions  of  the  head,  and  is  a  most 
dehcately  organiezd  structure,  and  therefore  soon 
thrown  out  of  order,  causing  the  above  noises  in 
moving.  Now  there  is  a  disease  called  the  Stran- 
gles affecting  young  horses,  in  which  a  gathering 
or  abscess  takes  place  in  the  space  between  the 
jaws,  and  therefore  close  to  this  delicate  box,  the 
'larynx.'  During  the  time  the  abscess  is  ripen- 
ing there  is  necessarily  great  inflammation  about 
this  box,  and  if  it  lasts  unduly  long  by  being 
treated  by  so-called  'home'  remedies,  or  worse 
still  by  the  farrier,  the  inflammation  is  apt  to 
injure  the  delicate  httle  muscles  of  which  the 
box  is  partly  composed,  and  leave  the  animal  a 
'  roarer.' 

39. — All  badly  treated  gatherings  or  abscesses 
are  apt  to  leave  behind  them  two  evidences  of 
their  former  presence,  viz:  thickening  of  the  skin 
and  parts  beneath,  and  ragged  scars.  Therefore, 
always  look  for  these  between  the  jaws  of  a 
horse.  The  skin  in  this  situation  should  be  fine, 
the  hair  silky,  and  you  ought  to  be  able  to  bury 
your  stretched  out  hand,  laid  lengthwise  back 
uppermost,  in  this  space:  or,  in  other  words,  see 
that  the  space  between  the  jaws  be  not  flush  with 
the  lower  borders  of  the  jaw. 

40. — The  ears,  forming  part  of  the  head,  may 
here  be  noticed.  They  ought  not  to  be  too  large, 
indeed  they  can  hardly  be  too  small.  They  vary 
in  shape  shghtly,  but  very  httle. 


LESSON  V. 

THE   KECK. 

The  neck  of  the  horse  may  be  roughly  stated 
to  be  an  oblong,  having  the  bones  of  the  neck  or 
cervical  vertebrse  as  a  diagonal;  thus,  (Fig.  7,  A). 
We  have  thus  a  rough  idea  of  its  fundamental 
structure,  and  shall  be  able  further  to  discuss  the 
subject  intelligibly.  The  column  of  bones  is  rep- 
resented by  the  diagonal  that  divides  the  neck 
above  and  below  into  two  triangles,  the  upper 
one  being  the  larger  and  more  clearly  defined. 
On  referring  to  Diagram  B  it  will  be  seen  that 
this  upper  triangle  contains  the  great  cervical 
hgament  which  supports  the  great  overhanging 
mass  formed  by  the  head  and  neck.  It  will  no 
doubt  often  have  occurred  to  non-anatomists,  as 
a  matter  of  wonder,  how  such  a  weighty  over- 
hanging mass  as  that  of  the  head  and  neck  gets 
supported,  and  how  it  is  kept  from  dropping 
down  and  dangling  between  the  fore  legs.  It 
will  be  seen  on  reference  to  Fig.  7  B  that  there  is 
a  ligament  occup}ang  the  upper  triangle  of  the 
neck  which  has  tivo  distinct  forms,  a  cordiform  or 
funicular  portion.  111,  and  a  lamellary  portion, 
2  2  2  2.  The  former  is  continuous,  with  the  liga- 
ment running  along  the  upper  ends  of  the  spines 
of  the  vertebral  column  of  the  back  and  loins, 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 


67 


and  then  stretches  along  the  upper  part  of  the 
triangular  space  of  the  neck  and  gets  inserted  to 

Figure  7. 


the  summit  of  the  head  at  the  back;  whilst  the 
other  portion  spreads  from  above  downwards  like 


58  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

a  fan  and  in  reality  is  given  off  from  the  upper 
or  cordiform  portion.  This  fanhke  portion  has 
six  shps,  which  get  inserted  to  the  spines  of  the 
last  six  of  the  bones  of  the  neck. 

In  the  first  lesson  we  saw  that  muscle  was  an 
active  contractile  tissue  tvhich  could  become  ex- 
hausted, so  that  if  the  neck  and  head  were  sup- 
ported by  muscles,  after  a  certain  time,  the  head 
and  neck  would  drop.  This  is  never  the  case,  be- 
cause they  are  supported  by  the  ligament  we 
have  been  describing,  which  is  made  up  of  a  con- 
gregation of  elastic  fibres  which  are  devoid  of 
feehng,  and  therefore  are  never  tired  and  are 
quite  as  passive  as  so  much  india  rubber,  that  is, 
the  ligament  stretches  when  anything  stretches 
it  and  recoils  when  the  stretching  force  is  re- 
moved. 

The  next  thing  I  must  direct  your  attention  to 
is  that  the  cordiform  or  upper  part  of  the  liga- 
ment is  broad  at  the  top,  and  that  the  skin  of  the 
neck  is  separated  from  it  by  a  quantity  of  fat  im- 
bedded in  fibrous  partitions.  The  amount  of  fat 
placed  upon  this  ligament  varies  greatly.  In  the 
clean,  light  neck  of  the  hunting  gelding  this  fat 
is  barely  represented,  whilst  in  low-bred  animals, 
in  stallions,  and  in  those  which  have  been  cas- 
trated, after  two  years  of  age  or  after  the  procre- 
ative  organs  have  assumed  their  functional  activ- 
ity, this  fat  and  fibrous  tissue  lying  along  the 
cordiform  tendon  on  the  upper  surface  of  the 
neck  is  of  considerable  thickness  and  forms  a 
'crest.'  It  is  of  course  best  seen  in  stallions,  and 
gives  their    neck    its    peculiar  shape.      In  the 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  69 

heavy,  soft  cart  horses  which  are  largely  im- 
ported into  Great  Britain  from  Belgium  it  is  also 
a  prominent  feature.  Some  colts  are  purposely 
left  till  two  years  old  before  castration,  on  pur- 
pose to  develop  this  fat  and  ^give  them  a  neck,' 
as  it  is  called.  The  quantity  of  this  fibro-fatty 
substance  in  the  neck  principally,  but  not  en- 
tirely, makes  the  difference  between  a  gross 
^fleshy'  neck,  and  a  fine  clean  neck,  and  when 
it  is  stated  that  there  is  no  strength  in  this  fibro- 
fatty  mass,  it  need  hardly  be  added  that  a  clean, 
light  muscular  neck  is  as  powerful  as  a  gross, 
thick,  heavy  neck,  which  is  largely  made  so  by 
this  stored  up  fat;  only,  of  course,  the  possessor 
of  the  latter  can  throw  more  weight  into  a  collar, 
and  is  so  far  preferable  for  draught  purposes. 
Besides  judging  of  the  quantity  of  this  fibro-fatty 
structure  by  the  sight,  you  can  grasp  the  top  of 
the  neck,  feel  its  thickness,  and  shake  it  from 
side  to  side. 

41. — On  each  side  of  this  ligament  there  are 
powerful  muscles  which  fill  up  this  upper  trian- 
gular space  and  get  attached  to  the  bones  of  the 
neck,  especially  to  the  last  five  of  these.  We 
have  seen  that  the  bones  of  the  spinal  column 
have  little  movement  individually,  but  collect- 
ively the  column  has  considerable  movement, 
which  we  likened  to  the  wriggling  of  an  eel. 
There  are  very  small  muscles  which  stretch  from 
every  bone  of  the  column  to  the  next  bone  in 
front  of  it,  and  are  said  to  '  clothe '  the  spinal 
column.  These  muscles  of  themselves  cause  the 
wriggling  movement  of  the  column.     The  col- 


60  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

umn,  however,  is  acted  upon  by  other  muscles 
than  those  Httle  ones  stretched  from  bone  to 
bone.  These  muscles  are  among  the  largest  and 
most  powerful  muscles  of  the  body,  and  bend  the 
bones  of  the  neck  very  much  upwards,  as  in 
taking  hay  out  of  racks  placed  very  high,  or 
very  much  downwards,  as  in  grazing.  The  part 
of  the  vertebral  column  forming  the  loins  is  also 
much  bent  in  galloping  and  leaping,  but  the 
most  movement  is  in  the  column  forming  the 
tail. 

Shortly  reviewing  what  we  have  said  regard- 
ing the  movements  of  the  back -bone  or  vertebral 
column  we  have  found  that  it  can  move  itself , 
and  that  it  can  he  moved.  That  in  moving  itself 
it  does  so  by  the  little  muscles  which  clothe  it, 
and  that  the  amount  of  this  movement  only 
amounts  to  what  we  have,  somewhat  inele- 
gantly, termed  a  wriggle.  That  in  being  moved 
by  nmscles  from  without,  the  motion  is  far  more 
extensive.  Lastly,  we  found  that  there  was 
most  movement  in  the  tail,  the  next  in  the  neck, 
and  then  in  the  loins,  so  that  we  have  only  to 
add  that  there  is  next  to  no  movement  in  the 
back,  and  as  has  been  mentioned,  the  bones  of 
the  croup  are  glued  together  and  quite  immov- 
able. 

Having  said  enough  for  the  present  about  the 
'back-bone'  or  'vertebral  column'  in  general,  I 
wish  now  to  fix  your  attention  upon  that  portion 
of  it,  made  up  of  seven  bones,  forming  the  neck. 
In  the  fore  part  of  this  lesson  we  saw  that  the 
bones  of  the  neck  ran  diagonally,  from  below  up- 


LESSONS  IN   HORSE  JUDGING  61 

wards  and  forwards,  and  wo  liavo  sinco  seen  that 
whether  it  is  straight  or  curved  depends  upon  the 
action  or  inaction  of  certain  muscles.  When  the 
horse  is  standing  quietly  at  rest  the  elastic  liga- 
ment simply  suspends  the  head  and  neck,  and  in 
doing  so  the  bones  of  the  neck  are  nearly 
straight,  having  only  the  faintest  possible  curve, 
or  in  other  words,  the  neck  at  rest  is  at  its 
straightest.  When  the  neck  is  not  at  rest,  the 
bones  of  the  neck  will  be  bent  according  to  the 
attitude  of  the  horse,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
muscles  filling  the  upper  triangle,  being  inserted 
into  the  hindmost  bones  of  the  neck,  are  most 
concerned  in  altering  its  shape. 

Eeferring  to  Fig.  7,  B,  we  find  that  the  hind- 
most side  of  the  upper  triangle  depicted  in  Fig.  7, 
A,  depends  for  its  depth  upon  the  length  of  the 
'  spines '  of  the  bones  of  the  vertebral  column  of 
the  foremost  part  of  the  back.  This  part,  horse- 
men know  as  the  ^withers.'  It  therefore  follows 
that  the  higher  the  withers  the  greater  the  power 
of  raising  and  bending  upwards  and  backwards 
the  bones  of  the  neck,  or  in  other  words,  the 
higher  the  withers  the  greater  the  poiver  of  hold- 
ing up  the  head  and  neck.  So  that  with  high 
withers,  that  is,  with  a  deep  triangle,  the  large 
muscles  of  this  region  not  only  act  with  the  least 
expenditure  of  power,  but  the  efficiency  of  space 
from  above  downwards  enables  large  muscles  to 
occupy  this  region  without  making  the  neck 
thick,  because  great  and  powerful  muscles  can 
be  stowed  away  in  a  space  which  though  narrow 
is  very  deep;  whereas  for  the  same  bulk,  and  as 


62  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

we  have  seen  strength,  to  be  stowed  away  in  a 
less  triangle,  the  space  laterally  has  to  be  en- 
croached upon.  So  that  given  the  same  weight 
of  head,  and  strength  and  length  of  neck,  the 
higher  the  withers  the  thinner  from  side  to  side 
will  be  the  neck,  hence  we  find  as  a  general  thing 
that  horses  with  low  withers  have  more,  so-caUed, 
fleshy  necks  than  those  with  high  withers,  be- 
cause these  muscles  are  stowed  and  have  to  act 
at  a  greater  disadvantage. 

THE  NECK  AND  HEAD. 

42. — We  have  next  to  consider  the  neck  and 
head  together  as  weights  and  as  f ulcrums,  also  as 
power.  The  head  as  a  whole  may  be  regarded  as 
a  solid  mass  attached  to  the  foremost  part  of  the 
neck  at  a  variable  angle.  The  upper  and  fore- 
most part  of  the  bones  of  the  neck  meets  the 
head  at  its  very  top,  (Fig.  Y,  B)  that  barely  two 
inches  of  the  head  is  above  the  bony  juncture  of 
the  head  and  neck. 

By  this  arrangement  we  get  a  lever  of  the  first 
order  which  moves  the  head  as  a  rigid  bar  up  and 
down,  the  neck  being  fixed  and  acting  as  a  ful- 
crum. The  upper  arm  of  the  lever,  we  have  said, 
is  about  two  inches  in  length  only,  and  so  allows 
it,  whilst  moving  through  very  little  space  itself, 
to  move  through  great  space  the  lower  and  longer 
arm  of  the  lever  made  up  at  the  head  generally. 
The  head  has  a  side  to  side  movement  also,  but 
we  shall  not  stop  to  consider  it  in  any  way  be- 
cause we  think  our  ends  may  be  gained  without 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  63 

this.  Again  reminding  you  of  what  was  said 
about  the  superior  triangle  of  the  neck  being 
occupied  by  muscles,  which  get  attached  to  the 
last  five  bones  of  the  neck,  and  of  course  when 
acting  draw  these  bones  upwards  and  backwards, 
there  are  positions,  as  for  example,  when  the 
horse  during  the  act  of  leaping  a  height  is  in  a 
rearing  attiude,  and  poising  the  body  the  instant 
before  taking  the  spring,  when  the  neck  has  to  be 
drawn  upwards  and  backwards,  and  the  muzzle 
drawn  well  in  to  the  neck,  in  order  that  the  face 
may  be  conveniently  situated  for  the  animal  to 
look  straight  down  upon  the  object  to  be  leaped 
over.  In  such  a  case  the  neck  assumes  the  most 
marked  double  curve.  The  hindmost  curve  is 
first  produced  in  the  way  we  have  mentioned, 
and  the  bones  of  it  being  fixed  allows  the  part  to 
become  a  fulcrum  for  the  muscles  acting  at  the 
lower  side  of  the  neck  to  draw  the  muzzle  back- 
wards. We  have  next  the  neck  in  one  long 
curve,  and  the  head  extended  as  when  the  horse 
is  feeding  out  of  a  very  high  hay  rack.  Next  we 
have  the  neck  straight  and  the  head  extended,  as 
in  the  race-horse  during  the  hottest  part  of  the 
race  nearing  the  winning  post,  and,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  neck  and  head  may  be  at  rest  and 
almost  at  right  angles. 

In  our  first  lesson  we  saw  that  muscles,  when 
in  the  full  enjoyment  of  their  highest  functions, 
were  said  to  be  in  tone.  We  have  also  seen  in 
this  lesson  that  muscles  alter  the  curve  of  the 
vertebral  column,  more  especially  those  parts  of 
it  forming  the  neck  and  the  tail,  so  that  it  follows 


64  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

as  a  corollary  that  if  the  muscles  of  the  neck 
habitually  act  in  one  jDosition  more  than  in  any 
other  position,  the  neck  will  become  more  and 
more  moulded  into  that  position.  Hence  we  see 
the  seasoned  carriage-horse  with  powerful  highly 
developed  muscles  of  the  neck,  which  gives  to  his 
neck  a  more  massive  appearance  with  its  double 
curve.  The  bearing  rein,  judiciously  apphed, 
effects  this  by  compeUing  the  horse  to  keep  his 
head  up  and  his  nose  in,  which  no  doubt  is  tiring 
at  first,  till  the  muscles  of  the  neck  get  into  con- 
dition; just  as  in  the  case  of  the  raw  recruit  who 
has  to  keep  his  head  up,  shoulders  well  back,  and 
the  palm  of  the  hand  open  to  the  front.  The 
muscles  in  six  weeks  or  less  get  into  tone,  and 
there  is  an  end  to  pain  from  restraint. 

The  bearing  rein  does  this  good,  it  causes  de- 
velopment of  the  muscles  of  the  neck,  and  enables 
greater  weight  and  strength  to  be  thrown  into 
the  collar.  Consequently  it  enables  those  who 
drive  pairs  to  have  both  breeding  and  substance. 

In  concluding  this  lesson,  we  have  just  to  re- 
mind the  reader  thafthe  neck  has  two  sources  of 
bulk,  namely,  the  fibro-fatty  mass  which  we  have 
before  discussed,  and  the  forced  development  of 
the  muscles.  So  that  we  may  have  both  these 
conditions  in  the  same  neck,  or  one  only. 

We  shall  have  more  to  say  about  the  head  and 
neck  in  our  next  lesson. 


LESSON  VI. 

THE  FORE  EXTREMITY. 

The  general  student  may  not  know  what  is 
meant  by  the  fore  extremity,  so  I  shall  have  to  ex- 
plain it.  Our  arms  and  hands  are  called  our  upper 
extremities,  our  legs  and  feet  our  lower  extremi- 
ties. The  words  upper  and  lower  being  used  on 
account  of  our  upright  position  of  body.  Quad- 
rupeds having  horizontally  placed  bodies  are  said 
to  have  fore  and  hind  extremities,  corresponding 
to  our  upper  and  lower  ones. 

43. — The  horse's  fore  extremities  are  made  up 
of  all  three  kinds  of  bones,  long,  flat,  and  irregu- 
lar. The  topmost  bone  is  a  flat  bone,  and  the 
only  flat  bone,  and  is  called  the  ^scapula'  or 
'shoulder-blade.'  All  the  other  bones  are  of  the 
long  kind,  except  the  little  bones  in  the  so-called 
'knee'  joint,  we  have  before  alluded  to  in  para- 
graph 11,  and  one  or  two  little  bones  we  shall 
afterwards  speak  of. 

The  bones  of  the  fore  extremities  are  of  various 
lengths,  and  from  the  top  of  the  arm  bone  down 
5  to  the  foot  they  gradually  lessen  in  thickness. 
Also  please  to  notice  that  the  so-caUed  'knee' 
joint  is  a  misnomer,  as  it  is  the  part  correspond- 
ing to  our  wrist  joint,  and  has  the  same  number 


66  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

Figure  8. 


ma 

BS9i 


Fore  extremity  of  horse. 

o.  Scapula,  or  shoulder  blado. 

b.  Humerus,  or  arm  bone. 

c.  Elbow. 
e.  Ulna. 

d.  Radius,  or  bono  of  forearm. 
/.  Carpus,  or  knee  (wrist.) 


Upper  extremity  of  man. 

g.  Metacarpal  bones. 

12  3.  Phalanges. 

h  1.  First  phalanx  or  sufTracrinis. 

2  Second        *'        or  corontd. 

3  Third         "       or  pedal. 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  6Y 

of  bones  in  it  and  of  the  same  shape  nearly,  but 
larger.  From  our  wrist  joint  five  lengths  of  bone 
proceed,  but  in  the  horse,  who  is  a  solipede,  only 
one  length  proceeds.  This  one  length  faithfully 
represents  our  middle  finger  from  the  wrist  joint 
to  the  tip  covered  by  the  nail.  Now,  beginning 
at  the  shoulder-blade  and  going  downwards,  let 
us  compare  our  extremity  with  its  homologue,  as 
anatomists  call  it,  in  the  horse.  You  are  not  to 
be  impatient  and  question  the  use  of  it,  until  you 
have  patiently  waded  through  what  I  have  got  to 
tell  you,  and  then  say  whether  it  is  of  use.  The 
two  extremities  are  given  in  Fig.  8. 

4A. — The  scapulae  of  man  and  horse  are  both 
flat  bones  and  both  triangular  bones,  with  a  very 
strong  ridge  of  bone  running  down  their  middle 
or  nearly  down  their  middle.  This  ridge  of  bone 
serves  many  purposes.  First  it  strengthens  the 
bone  without  adding  materially  to  its  bulk,  just 
as  the  engineer  shapes  his  iron  which  has  to 
bridge  across  a  space  and  to  bear  great  weight, 
and  have  as  httle  weight  as  possible.  Second, 
you  notice  this  'spine,'  as  it  is  called,  is  less  in 
proportion  in  the  horse  than  it  is  in  man,  and 
that  in  the  horse  it  is  not  continued  into  a  long, 
strong  process.  The  reason  of  this  difference  is 
that  the  horse  only  uses  his  fore  extremities  to 
walk  with;  he  has  no  'collar'  bone  or  'clavicle,' 
as  it  is  called  by  anatomists.  Now  the  collar 
bone  is  a  long  bone  at  the  top  of  our  chests  in 
front,  shaped  like  the  old-fashioned  letter  s,  like 
this  /,  and  it  has  one  end  placed  against  the  top 
and  side  of  the  breast  bone,  but  its  other  end 


68  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

meets  the  extreme  tip  of  this  spine  of  the  scapula 
and  props  the  shoulders  back,  and  so  keeps  our 
shoulders  well  back  at  all  times.  Were  it  not  for 
this  bone,  when,  in  using  our  arms,  we  stretched 
them  forward,  there  would  be  nothing  to  prevent 
our  two  shoulders  almost  meeting  in  front.  It  is 
the  relative  length  of  this  bone  that  determines 
the  appearance  of  our  shoulders.  If  growing 
children  are  allowed  to  sit  with  their  shoulders 
huddled  up,  the  two  ends  of  this  bone  are  unduly 
pressed  upon,  and  the  double  curve  is  increased 
and  the  collar  bone  more  bent,  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, more  shortened,  and  the  shoulder  blades, 
not  being  duly  propped  back,  stick  out  behind, 
and  the  child  grows  up  ^  round  shouldered. '  It  is 
owing  to  the  slightly  greater  length  of  this  bone 
which  gives  Frenchwomen  their  more  graceful 
shoulders  and  chest.  Lions,  tigers,  cats,  &c., 
use  their  fore  extremities  for  seizing  things  and 
holding  them,  so  that  they  have  clavicles  or  collar 
bones  Uke  men  and  women.  A  third  use  of  this 
'  spine '  of  the  scapula  is  that  it  acts  as  a  f ulciTim 
or  fixed  point  for  muscles,  also  as  a  place  for  in- 
sertion for  tendons. 

45. — The  next  bone,  called  the  'humerus'  or 
arm  bone,  will  be  seen  to  be  exactly  alike  in  both 
cases,  only  it  is  relatively  very  much  longer  in 
man.  In  both  it  is  a  powerful  bone,  but  espe- 
cially so  in  the  horse.  Extremely  large  muscles 
clothe  it. 

46. — The  next  two  bones  are  the  radius  and 
ulna.  In  man,  both  these  bones  are  continued 
from  the  elbow  joint  to  the  wrist  as  separate 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  69 

bones,  but  you  will  notice  that  in  the  horse  the 
ulna,  after  helping  the  radius  to  form  the  elbow 
joint,  coalesces  with  the  radius,  so  that  the  two 
in  a  full  grown  horse  look  like  one  bone.  This 
being  so,  the  ulna  is  said  to  be  rudimentary  in  the 
horse. 

47. — The  bones  of  the  carpus  are  nearly  alike  in 
both,  only,  of  course,  larger  in  the  horse.  We 
shall  call  this  the  knee  as  usual,  although,  as  you 
see,  it  is  the  wrist. 

48. — There  are  five  metacarpal  bones  in  our 
hands,  but  the  horse  has  only  one  which  is  fairly 
represented  by  the  metacarpal  bone  belonging  to 
our  middle  finger.  You  see  two  small  metacarpal 
bones  in  the  horse,  but  these  are  dwarfed  and 
only  rudimentary,  and  in  the  very  aged,  stuck  to 
the  larger  '  metacarpal. '  Notice,  though,  that  the 
tops  of  all  three  articulate  with  the  bones  above 
them,  i.  e.,  with  the  lower  bones  of  the  ^carpus' 
or  *knee.' 

49. — The  remaining  bones  explain  themselves 
almost.  Taking  the  bone  in  our  middle  finger 
from  the  knuckle  to  the  first  joint,  we  find  it  cor- 
responding in  everything  but  size  to  the  long 
pastern  bone  of  the  horse. 

50. — The  next  bone  to  this  again  corresponds 
with  our  next  bone  in  the  middle  finger,  but  is 
relatively  very  much  shorter  and  broader. 

51. — The  last  bone  is  very  highly  developed  in 
the  horse,  and  is  called  the  pedal  or  '  coffin '  bone. 
In  ourselves  it  is  little  more  than  rudimentary,  on 
account  of  its  not  being  called  upon  as  a  lowest 
point  to  bear  the  weight  of  our  body.     We  can 


YO  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

very  distinctly  see  the  resemblance  it  has  to  the 
same  bone  in  the  horse  in  the  skeletons  of  those 
who,  during  life,  used  their  fingers  in  hard,  heavy 
toil. 

52. — The  next  three  bones  are  sessamoid  bones, 
and  are  very  specially  more  related  with  the  long 
tendons  which  stretch  from  the  back  of  the  knee 
to  the  foot. 

So  much  for  the  '  bars '  of  our  levers  which  we 
saw  were  in  the  animal,  the  bones.  Now  for  the 
powers  of  the  animal  levers  which  we  saw  were 
the  muscles  with  their  tendons. 

53. — On  referring  to  Fig.  8,  E,  it  will  be  seen 
that  we  have  the  bones  of  the  fore  extremity  hid- 
den or  clothed  by  their  muscles.  This,  however, 
is  a  picture  or  a  faithful  representation  of  the 
parts  as  they  are  in  reality,  and  as  the  origins 
(fixed  points)  of  the  muscles  and  thek  insertions 
(moveable  points)  are  very  numerous,  it  will  be 
useless  to  describe  the  origin  and  insertion  of 
each  muscle,  but  by  the  aid  of  diagrams  we  can 
see  these  living  levers  to  greater  advantage.  I 
Avill,  however,  draw  your  special  attention  to  two 
things.  First,  you  ought  to  get  a  mental  picture 
of  this  Fig.  8,  E,  in  order  that  you  may  be  able  to 
recognize  it  as  seen  in  the  hving  horse,  covered, 
however,  by  the  skin.  Secondly,  please  to  notice 
that  all  the  parts  from  just  above  the  the  '  knee ' 
are  made  up  of  the  bellies  or  contracting  parts  of 
the  muscles  with  hardly  any  visible  tendon,  but 
that  from  just  above  the  knee  to  the  foot  all  is 
tendon  and  bone  together,  not  a  single  belli/  of 
muscle.     Perhaps  there  is  a  third  point  you  had 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  71 

better  notice,  namely,  that  of  the  bulky  fleshy 
part,  the  greatest  bulk  is  at  the  back  of  the 
shoulder  blade  and  arm  bone,  the  shoulder  get- 
ting more  and  more  bulky  as  it  descends.  Look 
steadily  first  at  the  column  of  bones  unclothed 
until  you  can  see  them  in  your  mind's  eye 
through  their  fleshy  clothing,  because  I  give  you 
warning  that  we  are  now  going  to  represent  all 
we  have  got  to  say  further  by  straight,  bare  lines 
only. 

54. — Before  going  any  further,  we  must  revert 
to  the  dry  subject  of  levers.  Let  me  impress 
upon  you  this  universal  law,  that  power  and 
speed  are  always  related  to  each  other,  but  that 
this  relation  is  always  antagonistic.  Expressed 
in  other  words  it  is  this,  'if  you  gain  power  you 
lose  speed,'  which  is  only  saying,  of  course,  that 
'if  you  gain  speed  you  lose  power.'  This  uni- 
versal law  does  a  great  deal  for  us  by  acting  as  a 
wholesome  check  to  our  enterprise.  Were  it  not 
for  this  antagonism  we  should  build  ships  that 
would  convey  cities  instead  of  their  present  mod- 
est loads,  and  these  would  run  at  speed  calcu- 
lated by  seconds  instead  of  days  and  weeks  and 
so  forth.  This  law  has  existed,  and  wiU  exist, 
through  all  time.  We,  however,  try  to  xmite  the 
two  things  as  closely  as  possible  ;  the  '  Great 
Eastern'  steamship  for  example.  This  artificial 
combination  is  nowhere  more  striven  after  than 
in  our  breed  of  horses,  the  English  hunter  for 
example. 

55. — We  shall  make  this  antagonism  between 
power  and  speed  do  us  good  service  here.     It 


72  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

enables  us  to  include  every  horse  under  the  sun 
under  three  logical  divisions,  namely : 

1. — Horses  of  Speed,  e.g.     Racehorses. 

2. — Horses  of  Power,  e.g.     Draughthorses. 

3. — Horses  of  Power  and  Speed,  e.g.    Hunters. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  first  two,  being  ex- 
tremes, will  be  in  the  minority,  because  most  of 
our  wants  require  a  combination  of  power  and 
speed. 

56. — We  must  just  allude  to  one  other  point, 
and  that  is  the  rhythm  of  movement.  Let  us 
take  a  simple  movement,  such  as  walkmg,  and 
see  what  the  fore  extremities  do  and  are  down  to 
in  this  rhythm.  It  will  be  seen  on  reference  to 
Fig.  9,  A^  that  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 
represent  this  rhythm  by  a  diagram  which  really 
represents  two  rhythms.  It  will  be  seen  that 
either  rhythm  is  included  in  a  parallelogram 
made  up  of  two  equal  triangles,  a'  a"  a'"  and 
a"  h"  h'".  They  are  equal  because  they  are  on 
the  same  base,  a'"  h'",  and  between  the  same 
parallels  a'  h" ,  a'"  U". 

It  will  be  seen  that  a  rhythm  is  begun  when 
the  foot  is  on  the  ground,  as  at  h'",  and  com- 
pleted when  the  foot  reaches  the  ground,  as  at 
a'",  and  the  limb  has  gained  the  same  relation  to 
the  body  (represented  by  the  arrow),  as  at  a'  a'" . 
Take  the  parallelogram  a'  a"  h'"  a'",  then  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  leg  is  flexed  and  extended  within 
the  triangle  a'"  a"  h"\  and  that  the  body  swings 
forward  and  brings  the  leg  from  position  a"  a'"  to 
a'  a'" ,  and  this  movement  is  accomplished  within 
the  triangle  a'  a"  a" .     It  is  needless  to  remind 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 


73 


the  reader  that  in  the  walk  one  fore  foot  is  on  the 
ground  when  tlie  other  is  off  it,  therefore  the  fel- 
low leg  is  hearing  the  body's  weight  whilst  the 
foot  is  being  put  from  h'"  to  a'''. 

In  passing  forward  the  foot  from  h'"  to  a'"  the 
leg  is 

1.— Flexed. 

2. — Dragged  forward  whilst  flexed. 

3. — Then  extended. 

Now  we  saw  that  the  spinal  column  had  its  own 
intrinsic  muscles  by  which  it  moved  itself,  and 

Figure  9. 


we  saw  that  this  movement  was  a  wriggle,  and 
we  also  saw  that  it  was  moved  by  muscles  from 
without  itself,  or  extrinsic  muscles.  So  it  is  with 
the  limbs,  they  can  flex  and  extend  themselves, 
but  they  require  muscles  which  have  their  fixed 
points  elsewhere  to  move  them  bodily  onwards. 
Now,  referring  to  Fig.  9,  B,  we  find  the  limb 
flexed  as  represented  by  the  right  hand  figure. 


74  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

After  being  so  flexed,  were  it  not  to  be  dragged 
forward  by  a  muscle  from  without,  but  simply  to 
again  extend  itself  instead  of  alighting  at  a'"  it 
would  drop  somewhere  on  the  line  between 
a'"  and  h'" .  In  order  to  be  carried  from  the 
flexed  position  to  the  position  o!'  a'" ^  we  find 
a  long,  tape-shaped  muscle  moves  it  forward 
through  the  distance  we  have  named,  and  that  j 
this  muscle  has  the  hones  of  the  neck  and  top^ 
of  the  head  for  a  fixed  point  or  fidcrum.  This 
is  a  very  important  point  for  you  to  remember. 
A  fulcrum  must  be  a  fixed  point,  therefore  when 
this  niuscle  is  acting,  the  neck  must  be  fixed  be- 
cause this  muscle  has  most  extensive  origin  from 
it.  Its  name  is  '  Levator  Humeri,'  or  in  English, 
hfter  of  the  arm.  This  is  a  misnomer,  because 
the  muscle  does  not  hft  the  arm,  but  hfts  the 
whole  shoulder  bodily  upwards  and  forwards  ac- 
cording as  the  neck  is  situated.  This  *  levator 
humeri '  arises  from  the  vertex  of  the  head  and 
from  the  foremost  four  bones  of  the  neck,  also 
through  a  strong  elastic  medium  it  arises  from 
the  elastic  ligament  of  the  neck.  After  this  ex- 
tensive origin,  it  gets  a  most  extensive  insertion 
to  the  shoidder  as  follows;  the  spine  of  the 
scapula  or  shoulder  blade,  the  point  of  the 
shoulder,  the  strong  outer  ridge  at  the  top  of 
the  arm  bone  and  to  the  arm  bone  at  another 
point  near  its  lower  end.  < 

As  the  free  and  extensive  movement  of  the 
shoulder  mainly  depends  upon  this  muscle,  and 
the  longer  the  belly  of  a  muscle  the  greater  the 
muscle's  capabihty  for  contraction,  and  further, 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  75 

as  this  muscle  is  co-extensive  with  the  neck,  it 
follows  that  the  longer  the  neck  the  more  exten- 
sive the  shoulder  movement.  Again,  as  this  mus- 
cle is  attached  to  and  runs  parallel  with  the 
bones  of  the  neck,  and  its  fibres  are  also  parallel 
with  the  bones  of  the  neck,  it  follows  that  the 
shoulder  will  he  dragged  bodily  along  the  line 
of  the  hones  of  the  neck.  Therefore,  a  horse 
having  his  head  well  up  will  necessarily  hft  his 
shoulders  bodily  upwards  and  forwards,  whilst 
he  will  only  drag  his  shoulder  forwards  whilst 

Figure  9. 

B 


galloping  with  his  neck  and  head  nearer  to  the 
ground. 

Never  forget  that  the  shoulder  is  always 
dragged  hodily  in  the  line  of  the  neck.  For 
high  action  then  the  first  requisite  is  that  the 
head  and  neck  be  held  well  up  or  the  shoulder 
will  not  be  lifted  well  up,  and  so  forth. 

57. — Flexion  and  extension  take  place  by 
means  of  the  muscles  belonging  to  the  limb 
and  not  from  muscles  having  their  origin  else- 


76  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

where.  By  referring  to  Fig.  9,  B,  we  see  a 
fore  limb  in  extension,  and  see  also  that  all  the 
powers  (p)  are  applied  in  front  of  the  limb.  In 
flexion  we  see  Fig.  9,  B,  that  all  the  powers  are 
applied  at  the  hack  of  the  hmb.  Looking  at 
either  of  these  figures  we  see  that  in  every  case 
the  power  is  placed  very  much  nearer  to  the  ful- 
crum than  the  weight,  the  weight  in  each  case 
may  be  regarded  as  all  the  parts  beneath  its 
respective  fulcrum,  so  that  it  is  evident  that 
speed  is  gained  at  very  extensive  sacrifice  of 
power.  In  all  horses'  Hmbs,  no  matter  what 
their  length  and  strength,  there  is  always  this 
relation  of  power  to  fulcrum,  so  that  in  all 
horses'  Umbs  extent  of  movement  or  speed  is 
provided  for  more  than  power. 

68. — The  shoulder  blade  has  two  distinct  move- 
ments. We  have  seen  that  it  is  dragged  forward 
by  the  levator  humeri  muscle.  Its  most  exten- 
sive movement  is  that  of  its  lower  end,  which 
gives  to  the  whole  blade  a  pendulum  movement. 
Both  these  movements  are  effected  by  this  mus- 
cle for  the  most  part. 

59. — The  arm  bone  has  also  two  movements. 
It  is  dragged  backwards  and  forwards  by  the 
levator  humeri  muscle.  Its  greatest  movement, 
however,  is  a  pump-handle  movement,  having 
its  fulci*um  or  fixed  point  at  the  shoulder  point. 

60. — It  will  be  seen  on  reference  to  Fig.  9,  (7,  1, 
2,  that  we  have  two  fore  hmbs  in  flexion.  The 
figures  are  alike,  but  placed  at  different  obliqui- 
ties. On  comparing  the  two  it  will  be  seen  that 
with  the  same  amount  of  flexion  the  'action' 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  77 

will  be  high  or  low  according  to  the  angle  formed 
by  the  body  with  the  scapula  or  the  limbos  most 
fixed  part.  By  further  comparing  1  and  2  it  will 
be  seen  that  1  looks  upwards  and  forwards,  but 
that  2  looks  forwards  only.  There  is  just  one 
other  point  we  must  be  clear  upon,  and  that  is 
the  relation  of  the  long  axis  of  the  fore  Hmb  to 
the  long  axis  of  the  body.  Let  us  agree  in  re- 
garding the  long  axis  of  the  fore  limb  at  the  nor- 
mal when  the  horse  is  standing  straight  on  both 
fore  hmbs,  which  must  be  perpendicular  when  on 


level  ground.  It  will  now  be  seen  that  the  long 
axis  of  the  fore  limb  is  not  necessarily  at  right 
angles  with  the  long  axis  of  the  body.  We  have 
divided  horses  into  three  classes,  and  adhering  to 
this  division  we  find  on  referring  to  Fig.  10,  that 
the  angle  formed  by  the  long  axes  before  referred 
to  in  the  two  fleet  horses,  'Fisherman'  and 
'Saunterer,'  are  greater  than  a  right  angle,  thus 
enabling  the  horse  to  'cover  more  ground,'  as 
horsemen  term  it.     But  on  reference  to  the  dia- 


78  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

gram  of  the  Clydesdale  horse,  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  two  axes  are  at  right  angles.  I  have  chosen 
the  three  from  that  most  excellent  work  on  the 
horse  by  Mr.  Walsh  (Stonehenge).  In  the  great- 
est speed  the  long  axes  of  the  body  is  of  necessity 
tilted  downwards  and  forwards.  In  the  heaviest 
draught  the  weight  has  to  be  thrown  forwards 
into  the  collar,  and  the  long  axis  of  the  body  also 
thrown  shghtly  downwards  and  forwards;  but 
very  much  less  so  than  in  the  former  case. 
Where  high  'park'  action  takes  place,  the  long 
axis  of  the  body  must  be  upwards  and  forwards. 
These  things  being  so,  it  foUows  that  for  either 
speed  or  action,  or  both,  the  fore  Hmb  must  be 
placed  bodily  well  forward,  and  have  its  long  axis 
well  in  advance  at  its  base.  The  horse  is  then 
said  *to  cover  plenty  of  ground.'  This  necessi- 
tates, as  we  have  seen,  plenty  of  obhquity  of  the 
shoulder  blade,  or  in  other  words,  the  top  of  the 
blade  must  be  well  back  and  the  shoulder  point 
well  forward.  In  heavy  draught,  the  centre  of 
gravity  must  be  thrown  well  in  front  of  the  fore 
limbs,  and  kept  in  this  relation  to  the  rest  of  the 
body,  and  the  long  axis  of  the  limb  throughout 
looks  downwards  and  forwards,  and  its  extension 
forward  at  the  base  never  gets  beyond  the  per- 
pendicular. 


Figure  lO. 


'Saunterer.' 


Clydesdale  Horse. 
[79] 


LESSON  vn. 

THE    FORE    LIMBS. 

Having  come  to  some  general  conclusions  re- 
garding the  fore  extremity,  it  will  be  easy  for  us 
now  to  go  quickly  over  a  consideration  of  each 
part  separately. 

61. — The  shoulder  blade  must  in  all  classes  of 
horses  be  of  good  length  and  breadth  to  afford 
space  for  the  attachment  of  the  many  powerful 
muscles  which  take  their  origin  from  it.  In  the 
race  horse  it  must  be  placed  very  obhquely,  in 
order  that  the  great  length  of  arm  required  can 
be  placed  sufficiently  downwards  and  forward,  so 
as  not  to  interfere  with  the  saddle  girth.  The 
arm  bone,  and  consequently  the  arm  must  be 
longer  than  in  any  other  class  of  horse,  and  the 
angle  between  it  and  the  scapula  also  be  very 
great.  The  fore-arm  also  of  the  race  horse  must 
be  long.  These  conditions  necessitate  that  the 
'  knee '  of  the  racer  be  very  near  the  ground,  and 
as  the  pasterns  must  be  duly  long,  and,  when 
walking,  be  rather  upright,  in  order  that  the 
weight  of  the  body  in  fast  galloping  may  not  un- 
duly bend  them,  it  follows  that  all  this  length  of 
parts  is  at  the  expense  of  the  metacarpal  bones, 
which  must  be  proportionately  shorter  than  in 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  81 

any  other  class  of  horse.  Indeed,  the  metacary)al 
bone  cannot  be  too  short  and  stout  in  the  race 
horse. 

62. — For  draught  horses  the  shoulder  blade  has 
need  of  being  extremely  broad,  and  placed  more 
upright,  in  order  to  fill  the  upper  half  of  the  col- 
lar well  when  the  body  is  thrown  forward.  The 
arm  bone  must  be  also  short  and  stout,  and  at  a 
less  angle  with  the  scapula.  These  conditions 
will  enable  the  arm  to  be  placed  further  back, 
and  the  fore  legs  generally  to  be  placed  well 
under  the  body,  if  possible,  a  little  behind  the 
perpendicular.  The  remaining  long  bones  of  the 
limb  from  the  elbow  downwards  cannot  be  too 
short  and  thick  in  order  that  the  horse  may  be  on 
short,  powerful  legs.  The  fore-arm  and  the  shins 
thus  appear  of  nearly  equal  length. 

63. — The  third  class,  of  which  the  hunter  is  a 
type,  must  have  a  lengthy  scapula,  of  good 
breadth,  and  set  well  back.  The  arm  must  be 
in  length  longer  than  in  the  draught  horse,  but 
not  so  long  as  in  the  race  horse.  It  also  must 
be  placed  at  an  angle  with  the  shoulder  blade 
greater  than  the  cart  horse,  but  less  than  in  the 
race  horse.  The  fore-arm  must  be  of  medium 
length,  also  the  shin. 

64. — The  knee  in  all  classes  must  be  very  large, 
that  is,  very  deep  and  very  broad  from  side  to 
side,  in  order  that  it  may  be  well  provided  with 
buffer  material  as  described  in  paragraph  11.  It 
must  not  be  narrow  from  before  backwards  at  its 
lower  part,  or  the  horse  will  be  what  is  known  as 
'  tied  in  at  the  knee.' 


82  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

65. — All  the  bones  above  the  knee  being  clothed 
with  muscle,  we  have  to  see  that  these  are  large 
and  in  good  tone.  By  referring  to  Fig.  8,  E,  we 
see  at  a  glance  what  the  form  of  the  parts  must 
take  in  perfect  development.  From  the  knee 
downwards,  however,  w^e  have  for  the  most  part 
bone  not  so  clothed,  but  clearly  defined  in  out- 
line. The  metacarpal  must  be  stout  in  all  cases; 
very  broad  from  side  to  side,  and  of  good  size 
from  behind  forwards.  The  powerful  tendons  at 
the  back  of  it  must  also  have  the  same  general 
outline  as  the  bone  in  front  of  them,  and  they 
must  stand  out  in  clear  relief  from  the  bone. 
The  outlines  of  the  bone  and  tendon  cannot  be 
too  distinct.  The  suspensary  ligament,  which  is 
an  unyielding  structure  attached  to  the  back  of 
the  metacarpal  bone  and  again  to  the  back  and 
sides  of  the  phalanges  and  so  slings  the  fetlock 
joint,  is  well  seen  between  the  metacarpal  bone 
and  the  tendon,  and  can  be  felt  in  its  lower  third 
above  the  fetlock  joint. 

6(j. — The  pasterns  must  be  broad  and  massive. 
They  must  have  plenty  of  length  in  the  race 
horse,  and  be  rather  upright  when  the  horse  is 
standing,  or  only  walking,  in  order  that  the  fet- 
lock joint  may  yield  well  in  the  gallop,  and  in 
doing  so  may  not  come  too  near  the  ground. 

In  draught  horses  they  must  be  less  upright, 
and  they  must  be  shoii;  and  very  stout. 

67. — The  feet  of  all  horses  must  have  the  same 
general  characters.  The  fore  feet  must  be  some- 
what oval  with  their  long  axes  from  side  to  side; 
the  hind  feet  too  must  be  somewhat  oval,  but 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  83 

thoir  long  axes  is  from  behind  forward.  The  wall 
of  the  foot  in  front  must  be  in  a  line  with  the 
front  outhne  of  the  pastern  when  the  horse  is 
standing.  The  line  formed  at  the  top  of  the  foot 
where  the  hair  and  hoof  meet  must  be  nearly  at 
a  right  angle  with  the  front  hne  of  the  foot  and 
pastern,  so  that  the  heels  will  neither  be  too  high 
and  the  foot  'boxy'  nor  too  low,  and  thereby 
tender.  The  sole  of  the  foot  must  be  well  arched, 
and  the  frog  large,  wedge  shaped  and  unbroken 
or  ragged.  The  foot  must  also  have  a  bright, 
shining  gloss  upon  it,  like  our  own  nails.  Shoe- 
ing-smiths  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  remove 
more  of  this  bright  substance  than  they  can  help 
at  the  time  they  are  rasping  the  turned  ends  of 
the  nails,  with  which  they  fasten  on  the  shoe,  as 
it  is  this  glue-like  substance  which  keeps  the"" 
fibres  of  the  hoof  from  splitting.  They  ought 
never  to  be  allowed  to  pare  the  sole  of  the  foot 
and  so  weaken  the  arch  on  which  the  column  of 
bones  rests.  After  duly  warning  the  shoeing- 
sinith  against  the  infringement  of  these  rules, 
horse  owners  should  instantly  dispense  with  the 
services  of  one  who  abuses  the  rasp  and  drawing 
knife.  In  order  to  detect  abuse  of  the  rasp, 
horse  owners  should  forbid  the  smith  to  put 
grease  upon  the  hoof,  and  so  gloss  over  the 
injury  he  has  inflicted  with  the  rasp.  Grease 
or  hoof  ointment  may  be  put  on  after  due  in- 
spection has  been  made  of  the  parts. 

68. — The  fore  limbs  should  be  set  on,  so  that 
when  the  horse  is  standing  the  limb  may  neither 
be  turned  in  nor  out.     The  breadth  of  the  shoul- 


84  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

ders  as  seen  from  the  front  will  vary  according 
to  their  muscularity,  but  much  more  according  to 
their  relative  position  with  the  trunk.  This  de- 
pends upon  the  chest  being  cone-shaped.  The 
chest  of  the  horse  is  somewhat  cone-shaped  with 
the  apex  of  the  cone  pointing  forwards,  and  the 
base  pointing  backwards.  It  is  evident  that  the 
further  the  shoulders  are  from  the  point  of  the 
cone  the  further  will  they  be  apart  from  each 
other.  The  fore  legs  of  the  horse  are  sometimes 
said  to  appear  '  to  come  out  of  one  hole. '  They 
may,  as  we  have  seen,  be  quite  as  muscular  as 
shoulders  set  wider  apart.  Width  of  shoulders  is 
desirable  for  collar  work,  so  that  the  fore  legs 
have  need  of  being  placed  wider  apart.  We  shall 
say  httle  of  '  action '  because  that  is  involved  in 
the  more  general  consideration  of  the  limbs;  but 
we  must  remark  that  when  the  foot  is  lifted  in 
flexion,  the  lower  part  of  the  limb  should  be  also 
straight  with  the  long  axis  of  the  body  when 
viewed  either  to  the  front  or  rear.  The  foot 
turned  out  when  lifted  and  flexed  is  said  ^to 
dish.' 

The  fore  limb  of  the  racer  does  not  necessitate 
close  action,  or  as  it  is  termed,  'daisy  cutting' 
action.  Flexion  is  very  limited,  not  on  account 
of  the  limb  being  so  formed  as  to  preclude  it,  but 
the  animal  has  so  seldom  occasion  to  lift  his  feet, 
on  account  of  being  nearly  always  on  level,  un- 
broken ground,  that  habit  and  conservation  of 
energy  alike  tend  to  close  stilty  action.  With 
horses  used  for  speed  and  power,  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  includes  most  horses  having  to  go  over 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  85 

mixed  ground,  higher  action  becomes  habitual, 
and  in  going  fast  on  uneven  ground  they  must 
habitually  lift  their  feet  well,  and  keep  them  well 
in  advance  of  the  body,  or  they  must  stumble 
and  fall.  Draught  horses  too  go  over  all  kinds  of 
ground,  and  get  into  the  habit  of  lifting  their  feet 
well  from  the  ground,  but  in  their  case  slower 
speed  gives  them  time  to  rectify  a  false  step  that 
would  bring  the  subject  of  quicker  movement  to 
the  ground.  Then  their  limbs  are  placed  more 
under  the  body,  and,  being  shorter,  the  action 
takes  place  under  the  body  and  not  in  front  of  it. 

THE  TRUNK. 

69. — We  must  now  pass  in  review  the  trunk 
of  the  horse,  by  which  we  mean  the  ^  chest '  and 
^  belly.' 

70. — The  chest,  as  has  been  before  observed,  is 
cone-shaped,  having  the  apex  of  the  cone  point- 
ing forward  and  its  base  backwards.  This  cone 
shape  is  very  effectually  hidden  from  our  view  in 
the  living  horse  by  those  large  muscular  and 
bony  masses,  the  shoulders,  being  placed  by  the 
side  of  the  apex  of  the  cone  and  extending  back- 
wards. The  cone  is  made  up  of  bones,  having 
the  backbone  and  upper  end  of  the  ribs  for  a 
roof,  the  ribs  for  sides  and  the  breast  bone  for 
the  floor.  This  bony  framework  contains  those 
vital  organs,  the  heart  and  lungs.  In  animals 
used  for  speed  and  power  the  chest  must  be  very 
large,  because  speed  and  power  expend  much 
oxygen,  which  the  lungs  have  to  procure  for  the 


86  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

blood  from  the  atmosphere.  As  the  blood  feeds 
upon  oxygen  and  consumes  more  when  the  body 
is  in  active  movement,  it  is  necessary  that  the 
heart  be  large  and  strong  to  receive  and  send  the 
blood  in  large  quantities  to  its  airing  or  feeding 
ground,  the  lungs;  also  that  the  lungs  be  large  to 
receive  both  it,  also  the  air  from  without,  which 
has  to  meet  the  blood  and  deliver  up  most  of  its 
oxygen  to  the  blood,  and  in  return  receive  impuri- 
ties from  the  blood  and  carry  them  from  the 
lungs.  Besides  being  large  and  strong,  the  heart 
and  lungs  have  to  submit  to  quickened  rhythmi- 
cal movement  during  the  exercise  of  speed  and 
power,  therefore  we  have  to  see  that  the  walls  of 
the  chest,  which  we  saw  were  formed  by  the 
ribs,  are  freely  moveable. 

Yl. — The  belly  contains  the  organs  for  the  con- 
version of  food  into  the  substantial  elements  for 
repair  of  the  waste  of  tissue  which  the  body  is 
always  undergoing,  but  which  goes  on  more 
quickly  when  the  animal  is  in  greater  activity. 
These  organs  are  for  the  most  part,  the  stomach 
and  intestines  "wdth  the  largest  gland  of  the  body, 
namely,  the  liver.  The  stomach  of  the  horse  is 
comparatively  small,  but  the  intestines  are  very 
large,  and  are  of  necessity  kept  distended  by  resi- 
dual gas,  which  it  is  one  of  the  functions  of  the 
healthy  body  to  keep  evenly  balanced  in  regard 
both  to  quantity  and  quality.  This  constant  dis- 
tension of  the  intestines  by  healthy  gas  causes 
that  roundness  and  tension  of  the  belly  we  see  so 
well  marked.  When  the  horse  is  in  hard  con- 
dition, there  is  a  minimum  quantity  of  healthy 


LESSONS  IN   HORSE  JUDGING.  87 

gas  in  the  bowels.  This  can  only  be  when  he  is 
living  on  highly  nutritious  diet  in  a  concentrated 
form,  such  as  oats  and  hay.  Should  an  animal, 
as  in  summer,  be  living  on  less  nutritious  diet, 
and  this  engulphed  in  coarse,  watery,  non-nutri- 
tive material,  causing  the  digestive  apparatus 
much  work,  then  this  residual  gas  is  for  the  time 
greatly  increased,  whilst  the  powers  are  taxed  to 
their  utmost,  and  it  not  unfrequently  happens 
that  these  fail  in  balancing  the  quantity  of  this 
gas,  and  so  '  windy  colic '  results.  It  is  then  for 
us  to  ask  first  of  all  what  the  horse  we  are  pur- 
chasing is  living  upon.  If  it  is  green  food,  we  ex- 
pect to  find  a  larger  belly  than  when  hving  upon 
harder  and  more  concentrated  food.  When  the 
gas  in  the  bowels  is  much  less  than  common,  it 
gives  to  the  animal  an  unsightly  appearance,  and 
he  is  said  to  be  'tucked  up  in  his  flanks;'  but  I 
must  caution  you  here  against  being  deceived  in 
the  import  of  this.  If  a  horse  is  pained  in  mov- 
ing his  hind  legs,  he  wiU  be  tucked  up  in  the 
flanks  on  the  side  on  which  the  lame  leg  is,  and 
tucked  up  on  both  flanks,  of  course,  if  lame  on 
both  hind  legs.  In  this  case,  the  gas  in  the 
bowels  may  not  be  proportionately  less,  unless  he 
is  otherwise  in  bad  health,  but  it  is  more  com- 
pressed and  pushed  forwards,  and  encroaches 
upon  his  breathing  area.  Some  horses  have 
habitually  an  appearance  of  less  residual  gas  in 
their  bowels  even  when  in  health.  This  gives 
their  beUy  an  unsightly,  tucked  up  appearance, 
but  it  is  not  in  itself  a  blemish.  It  will  occur 
from  overwork,  and  is  one  of  the  best  indica- 


88  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

tions  we  can  have  to  stop  off  work,  or  moderate 
it;  because,  as  we  have  reason  to  know,  this  gas 
must  be  present  in  sufficient  quantity  to  main- 
tain the  digestive  apparatus,  so  that  it  is  merely- 
pressed  out  of  its  legitimate  area  by  the  over- 
worked abdominal  muscles,  and  presses  upon  the 
heart  and  Imigs,  which  causes  these  organs  to 
work  under  undue  pressure  from  the  rear,  and 
which  will  almost  invariably  end  in  inflamma- 
tion (pleurisy)  of  their  serous  covering,  called  the 
pleura,  if  not  stopped;  because  the  pleura  invests 
the  lungs,  and  turns  again  upon  itself  and  lines 
the  ribs,  and  during  breathing  the  two  pleuras 
have  to  rub  over  each  other,  and  if  the  lungs  are 
unduly  pressed  upon  from  behind  this  friction 
increases  and  leads  to  inflammation. 

Y2. — The  trunk  at  the  top  has  the  back  bone 
running  its  whole  length,  and  we  saw  that  each 
bone  of  the  back  had  a  bone  sticking  up  called  its 
spine.  We  further  saw  that  it  was  the  great 
length  of  these  spines  in  the  fore  part  of  the 
back  which  mainly  constituted  the  withers.  The 
spines  of  the  back  are  not  all  the  same  length, 
but  require  to  be  long,  in  order  that  the  horse 
may  have  a  strong  back.  The  ribs  must  be  long, 
so  as  to  give  depth  to  the  chest,  and  they  must 
be  well  rounded,  otherwise  the  horse  will  be 
what  is  termed  flatsided.  Tliis  condition  limits 
the  extension  of  the  lungs  from  side  to  side,  so 
they  have  to  extend  backwards  and  encroach 
upon  the  alimentary  organs,  more  especially  the 
stomach,  and  this  renders  the  animal  less  strong 
than  he  otherwise  would  be. 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  89 

73. — The  bottom  of  the  chest  at  the  girth  place 
and  between  the  fore  legs  is  clothed  by  the  very 
large  '  pectoral '  muscles,  which  in  horses  used  for 
great  speed  are  very  highly  developed,  so  as  to 
give  this  part  a  very  deep  appearance.  When 
these  muscles  are  large  and  the  withers  high,  the 
fore  part  of  the  trunk  is  very  deep. 

On  referring  to  the  horses  depicted  in  Fig.  10, 
which  represents  our  two  extremes — speed  and 
strength — it  will  be  seen  that  in  horses  used  for 
speed  the  chest  is  very  large,  and  with  the  large 
powerful  muscles  gives  the  fore  hand  its  massive 
appearance;  while  the  belly  is  very  small  indeed. 
This  gives  to  the  trunk  its  downwards  and  for- 
wards axis,  as  seen  by  our  line.  The  draught 
horse,  on  the  other  hand,  has,  if  anything,  the 
chest  smaller  than  the  belly,  so  that  there  the 
two  cavities  are  more  of  a  size,  hence  the  almost 
horizontal  axis  of  the  trunk. 


LESSON  VIII. 

THE  HIND  EXTREMITIES. 

Named  from  above  downwards  the  bones  of 
the  hind  extremities  are : 

The  Innominate  Bones. 
Femur. 
Patellas. 

Tibia. 
Fibula. 
Tarsal  Bones. 
Metatarsal  Bones. 

Two  Sesaamoids. 
Suffraglnal  Bono. 
Coronal  Bono. 

Navicular  Bone. 
Pedal  or  CoflQn  Bone. 

74. — The  'innominate,'  or  nameless  bone,  is  so 
called  on  account  of  its  being  hke  nothing  but  it- 
self to  which  anatomists  can  compare  it.  It  is 
scientifically  termed  the  'pelvic  girdle.'  The 
word  pelvis  means  a  basin,  and,  save  in  man- 
kind with  his  upright  trunk,  scarcely  applicable 
to  the  lower  animals,  seeing  that  it  is  neither 
shaped  like  a  basin  nor  properly  acts  as  such  in 
them.  A  very  small  portion  of  it,  called  the  true 
pelvis,  assumes  more  of  the  character  and  func- 
tions of  a  basin,  and  holds  and  protects  the  blad- 
der, unimpregnated  womb,  &c. 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 


91 


This  bone,  in  forming  the  foundation  of  what 
are  called  the  '  hind  quarters, '  must  be  thoroughly 
mastered  in  all  its  aspects  here  pointed  out. 

The  bone  is  made  up  of  two  symmetrical 
halves,"  each  half  being  made  up  of  three  dis- 
tinct bones  which  become  inseparably  united  in 
adult  hfe  at  their  lower  middle  portion.     These 


are  called  'ilium,'  'ischium,'  'pubis.'  We  find 
the  'ilium '  making  up  by  far  the  largest  part  of 
the  bone,  and  is  all  the  part  in  front  of  the  joint, 
and  on  which  we  have  placed  the  T  shaped 
figure.  It  also  helps  to  form  a  part  of  the  cavity 
of  the  joint.  The  'ischium'  is  all  the  part  behind 
the  joint  from  4  to  3.  It  also  helps  to  form  the 
joint.     The  '  pubis '  is  not  well  seen  in  our  figure, 

*  Our  description  applies  to  either  half. 


9^  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

but  is  a  small  flat  part  which  with  its  fellow 
unites  the  two  halves  of  the  bones  together.  It 
concerns  us  here  so  little  that  we  shall  not  fur- 
ther notice  it. 

75. — The  ^  ilium '  is  irregularly  T  shaped.  The 
two  ends  of  the  top  of  the  T  are  rough  and 
prominent,  the  external  end  at  1  more  especially 
so,  and  is  that  'point'  in  Mark  Twain's  horse 
which  he  hired  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  situated 
behind  the  saddle  on  which  he  hung  his  hat. 
The  other  end  of  the  T  at  2  is  also  rough,  but  not 
nearly  so  prominent,  yet  it  too  is  conspicuous  in 
some  horses.  The  top  of  the  T  is  flat  and  very 
broad  and  concave  from  one  end  of  the  top  of 
the  T  to  the  other.  As  it  approaches  the  joint  it 
becomes  narrow  and  nearly  round  like  a  long 
bone,  and  like  a  long  bone  widens  out  to  help  to 
form  the  joint. 

76. — The  '  ischium '  part  of  bone  (between  4  and 
3)  is  seen  to  be  quite  hke  a  long  bone  in  its  cen- 
tre in  being  round  and  narrow,  and  widens  out  in 
front  to  help  to  form  the  joint,  and  also  widens 
out  behind,  and  forms  a  large,  rough  prominence, 
3,  we  see  by  the  side  of  the  root  of  the  tail. 

77. — The  '  ilium  '  and  '  ischium '  being  practi- 
cally all  one  bone,  we  will  refer  to  them  as  such, 
and  call  the  united  stnictitre  the  '  ilio-ischium.^ 
The  ilio-ischium  plays  the  most  important  part  in 
the  formation  of  the  hind  quarters  as  we  shall 
see.  We  have  seen  that  it  has  three  points  all 
large  and  rough,  and  which  give  origin  to  large 
muscles.  Now  we  find  these  points  extremely 
useful,  indeed  indispensable  landmarks  in  judg- 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  93 

ing  the  hind  quarters.  If  point  1  be  placed  high 
up  on  a  level  with  point  2,  it  gives  the  hips  a  rug- 
ged, coarse  appearance,  as  in  Fig.  12,  the  large, 
rugged  point  being  all  the  more  conspicuous. 
Then  again,  if  point  3  be  placed  very  low  down, 
it  gives  the  quarters  a  drooping  appearance, 
therefore  we  have  to  regard  the  relations  of 
these  three  points  to  two  axes,  one  axis  is  the 
long  axis  of  the  body  generally,  and  may  be 
represented  by  the  line  a  6,  which  we  shall  call 
the  axis  of  the  ant ero -posterior  obliquity;  the 
other  axis  is  represented  by  the  dotted  line  be- 
tween points  2  and  3,  which  we  shall  call  the 
axis  of  the  lateral  obliquity. 

Seeing  that  point  2  is  fixed  always,  being 
bound  dow^n  by  unyielding  ligaments  to  the  solid 
portion  of  the  back  bone,  called  the  sacrum,  and 
the  sacrum  is,  as  we  have  seen,  a  part  of,  and  a 
continuation  of  the  back  bone,  it  follows  that 
when  this  ilio-ischium  alters  its  relation  to  the 
line  a  b  (axis  of  antero-posterior  obliquity)  it  is 
the  point  3  which  is  affected  and  lifted  up  so  as 
to  form  straight  quarters  as  in  the  Arab;  droop- 
ing quarters  as  in  the  cob  and  trotting  horse,  or  a 
medium  as  in  the  hunter  class. 

Again,  when  the  lateral  obliquity  is  affected  we 
may  regard  the  points  2  and  3  as  being  fixed,  or 
what  is  better,  regard  the  dotted  line  2  3  as  a 
door  post  on  which  the  bone  ilio-ischium  is 
swung,  then  it  is  evident  that  it  is  the  point  1, 
and  with  it  the  joint  4,  that  is  affected,  the 
former  most  so,  and  we  get  the  level  ragged  hips 
well  seen  in  the  'bus  horse,  where  the  point  1  is 


94 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 


on  a  level  with  point  2,  and  where  the  widest 
part  of  the  quarters  is  at  the  top  (Fig.  12),  or  we 
have  point  1  much  lowered  as  in  Fig.  13,  seen  in 
the  higher  breeds,  where  the  breadth  of  the  quar- 
ters is  much  lower  down.     Notice,  of  course,  that 


Figure  12. 


Figure  13. 


as  it  is  point  1  whicli  determines  the  breadth  of 
the  quarters  in  all  cases,  the  quarters  will  be 
widest  at  the  top  or  lower  down  according  to  the 
relative  position  of  point  1,  to  the  axis  of  the 
lateral  obliquity  (dotted  hne  2,  3). 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  95 

The  hip  joint  is  largely  affected  by  both  obli- 
quities. It  will  bo  highest  in  straight  quarters, 
and  lowest  in  drooping  quarters.  The  length  of 
the  thigh  bone  is  the  same  in  all  positions  of  the 
joint  so  that  the  stifle  joint  will  be  lowest  and 
furthest  advanced  under  the  body  in  drooping 
quarters.  This  condition  is  most  favorable  for 
fast  walking  and  trotting,  but  httle  favorable  for 
galloping,  because  the  more  the  quarters  droop, 
the  more  is  the  femur  or  thigh  bone  directed  for- 
wards and  downwards,  and  having  a  hmited  mo- 
tion, and  placed  almost  at  right  angles  with  the 
iho -ischium,  its  movement  backwards  is  therefore 
less,  and  incapable  of  being  stretched  well  back 
in  the  gallop.  The  femur  is  placed  at  right  an- 
gles, or  nearly  so,  with  the  ilio-ischium,  so  that 
its  arc  of  motion  will  be  the  further  advanced  the 
more  drooping  the  quarters. 

To  judge  the  length  of  the  femur  in  the  living 
horse,  you  draw  an  imaginary  line  from  the 
prominence  at  the  tail  to  point  1,  then  the  head 
or  top  of  the  femur  is  at  the  end  of  the  first  third 
of  this  distance,  and  the  other  end  is  quite  well 
represented  by  the  depression  or  notch,  formed  at 
the  stifle  joint.  The  femur  is  a  very  thick  bone, 
and  very  powerful,  and  clothed  by  the  large  mus- 
cles of  the  thigh.  It  extends  from  the  socket  on 
the  ilio-ischium,  whilst  the  lower  end  is  placed 
upon  the  two  bones  below  (tibia  and  fibula)  with 
the  pateUa  or  knee-cap  in  front,  and  thus  forms 
the  largest  joint  in  the  body,  called  the  stifle  joint 
(our  knee  joint). 

78.— One  bone  only,  the  tibia,  reaches  from  the 


96 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 


stifle  joint  to  the  hock  joint  (See  Fig.  14).  It  is  a 
long  bone  with  two  ends.  The  upper  end  as 
aforesaid  helps  to  form  the  stifle  joint,  and  is 
rather  a  large  end.     The  lower  end  is  smally  and 


Figure  14. 


1.  The  largo  muscles  of  the  thigh. 

2.  Tho  lower  part  of  tho  hock  at  tho  usual  scat  of  spavin. 

3.  The  patella,  or  "  kuoe-cap;"  immediatoly  below  this  tho  de- 
pression is  over  the  joint. 

4.  Muscles  at  the  back  of  the  tibia,  oorres ponding  to  the  "  calf '' 
of  our  leg. 

5.  Point  of  hock. 

6.  Curb  place. 

7.  Bellies  of  muscles  on  outer  aspect  of  leg. 

8.  Space,  the  seat  of  "thoro-pin." 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  97 

with  the  astragalus  forms  the  true  hock  joint. 
The  length  or  shaft  of  the  bone  is  not  round,  but 
has  three  flat  sides;  one  side  looking  backwards 
having  upon  it  the  bellies  of  large  muscles  cor- 
responding to  the  calf  of  our  own  leg.  Another 
surface  looks  inwards  and  forwards,  and  is  cov- 
ered by  skin  only,  as  seen  in  Fig.  14,  just  as  in 
ourselves,  and  in  us  is  called  the  shin,  and  can  be' 
felt  as  a  bony  •surface  from  our  stifle  or  knee 
down  to  our  hock  or  ankle,  where  it  ends  in  a 
very  sharp  bony  point  in  both  cases  called  the  in- 
ner maleolus. 

You  should  make  an  effort  to  remember  this 
prominent  bony  point  called  the  inner  maleolus, 
because  it  forms  a  prominent  land-mark  in  de- 
scribing the  hock.  The  remaining  side  of  this 
bone  looks  outwards  and  forwards,  and  is  covered 
by  powerful  muscles.  Fig.  14,  7,  which  if  you 
grasp  your  right  leg  with  your  right  hand  in 
front,  half  way  betv/een  the  knee  and  ankle,  and 
then  raise  your  toes  without  moving  your  foot  or 
leg,  you  will  feel  to  contract.  This  outer  surface 
then  is  covered  by  the  bellies  of  the  muscles 
which  lift  the  toes  upwards,  and  in  the  horse  lifts 
his  foot  forward. 

We  have,  in  our  remarks,  spok^  of  an  inner 
maleolus,  implying  the  existence  of  an  outer 
maleolus.  The  outer  maleolus  is  formed  by  the 
lower  end  of  the  '  fibula '  in  ourselves,  but  in  the 
horse  the  *  fibula '  is  only  rudimentary,  and  does 
not  reach  down  to  the  hock,  or  ankle,  but  is 
merely  a  spicula  of  bone  having  no  function  or 
use  whatever. 


98  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

79. — The  hock^  (our  ankle)  is  a  highly  important 
joint  on  account  of  the  frequency  of  its  break- 
downs. It  is  X3laced  under,  and  forms  an  angle 
with  the  large  bone,  the  tibia,  which  transmits 
the  weight  of  the  body  on  its  upper  surface,  and 
is  placed  over,  and  is  in  a  li7ie  with  the  long  bone 
below,  the  metatarsal  bone,  which  has  to  meet 
the  weight  of  the  body  at  this  point,  and  form 
a  support  for  it  every  time  thejbody  has  to  be 
propelled  forward.  We  must  never  lose  sight  of 
the  fact  that  the  angle  is  at  the  bottom  of  the 
tibia,  and  at  the  top  of  the  hock,  and  that  the 
direction  of  the  weight  of  the  body  is  represented 
by  the  long  axis  of  the  tibia.  This  direction  of 
weight  is  easiest  combated  the  less  the  angle 
formed  at  the  hock,  just  as  a  straight  upright 
pillar  will  bear  a  greater  weight  than  oue  which 
has  a  bend  or  angle  in  it,  and  the  greater  this 
bend  or  angle,  the  less  able  is  the  pillar  to  sup- 
port weight  put  upon  it.  The  weight  of  the  horse 
is,  we  have  said,  transmitted  through  the  tibia, 
and  is  not  a  dead  weight  so  to  speak,  that  is  to 
say  it  is  not  like  the  steady  downward  pressure 
of  a  weight  having  no  other  influences  save  grav- 
ity on  the  one  hand  and  the  resisting  medium  on 
which  it  rests  on  the  other.  It  may  be  compared 
to  the  pressure  exerted  on  the  end  of  the  village 
urchin's  bow  when  he  has  planted  one  end  on 
the  ground,  is  bending  the  wood  with  his  right 
knee  whilst  he  hokls  the  bow  firmly  pressed  to 

*  Tho  student  should  procure  the  bones  of  ii  sound  hock.  Any 
horse-slaughterer's  man  will  procure  and  prepare  these  for  a  shilling 
or  so. 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  09 

the  ground  with  his  left  hand,  and  is  dragging 
the  string  upwards  to  the  notch  or  catch  with  his 
right  hand.  In  such  a  case  the  end  resting  on  the 
ground  is  pressed  downwards  with  the  left  hand, 
and  is  dragged  upwards  through  the  medium  of 
the  string  with  the  other.  Such  a  weight  differs 
much  from  a  so-called  dead  weight.  Excluding 
the  long  bones  above  and  below  which  meet  the 
hock,  and  regarding  only  the  intrinsic  bones  of 
hock,  we  can  divide  them  into  three  sets  accord- 
ing to  their  functions;  namely— 

1.  The  gHding  bone. 

2.  The  lever  bone. 

3.  The  buffer  bones. 

The  gHding  bone  is  called  the  astragalus,  and  is 
a  large  cubical  block  which  carries  the  two  large 
ghdmg  surfaces,  on  which  glides  the  small  end  of 
the  tibia.  These  two  large  gliding  surfaces  have 
a  screw-like  form  which  causes  the  parts  below 
the  hock,  when  the  toe  is  lifted,  to  move  out- 
wards. Then  again,  this  gliding  surface  is  almost 
parallel  with  the  long  axis  of  the  hock  and  parts 
below.  Then  again,  and  this  is  very  important  to 
remember,  when  the  foot  is  on  the  ground,  the 
leg  at  its  straightest,  and  the  very  small  end  of 
the  tibia  resting  upon  the  top  of  this  large  ghding 
surface,  the  hock  appears  large,  but  when  the  leg 
is  hfted,  and  the  small  end  of  the  tibia  slides 
necessarily  to  the  bottom  of  this  large  gliding 
surface,  the  hock  looks  small,  therefore  it  is  the 
relation  of  this  large  gliding  surface  to  the  small 
surface  at  the  lower  end  of  the  tibia  which  deter- 


100  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGINa. 

mines  the  apparent  size  of  the  hock.  It  follows 
that  a  bent  hock  ivhicli  appears  smaller  may  he  as 
large  as  a  straight  hock  which  appears  larger. 

The  lever  bone,  or  ^  calcaneum/  is  placed  at  the 
top  of  the  hock  at  the  back,  and  is  a  lever  of  the 
second  order.  The  end  of  the  long  arm  of  this 
lever  is  called  the  point  of  the  hock,  and  cor- 
responds with  our  heel.  It  has  attached  to  it  the 
tendon  (called  '  Tendo  Achilles ')  of  the  large  mus- 
cle whose  belly  forms  the  so-called  calf  of  our 
leg.  All  depends  upon  the  length  of  this  lever 
whether  the  ^  calves '  are  large  or  small,  because 
the  longer  this  long  arm,  the  less  will  be  the 
strength  required  to  work  it.  Negroes  have  small 
calves  to  their  legs  very  often,  because  their  heels 
are  so  long.  A  well-bred  European  with  his  short 
large,  muscle  to  ivork  it,  and  so  can  boast  of 
'having  a  good  leg.'  The  ^calf '  of  the  horse  is 
very  much  concealed  on  account  of  the  large 
muscles  of  the  back  of  the  thigh  being  inserted 
into  the  back  and  upper  third  of  the  tibia  sur- 
rounding the  'calf  to  some  extent.  The  mus- 
cles on  the  outer  side  of  the  tibia  (Fig.  1-i,  7) 
called  the  gaskin  muscles,  well  seen  in  Fig.  15, 
are  extremely  prominent,  and  measurable  with 
the  eye,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  extend  the  toe  and 
foot.  Little  notice  then  need  be  taken  of  the 
long  arm  of  the  lever  under  consideration.  Witli 
a  long  lever  arm,  and  the  same  bulk  and  strength 
of  '  calf '  required  for  a  short  lever  arm  attached 
to  it,  the  hock  would  be  torn  asunder.  This,  as 
we  have  seen,  cannot  be  the  case.  The  weight 
surface  of  the  lever  is  applied  against  the  astraga- 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 


101 


lus.  The  fulcrum  concerns  us  most,  as  it  is  fixed 
by  means  of  ligaments  which  are  sometimes  torn 
or  otherwise  injured,  and  which  swell  and  in- 
flame in  consequence,  and  the  horse  is  then  said 


Figure  IS. 


to  have  ^sprung  a  curb.'   The  place  of  this  occur- 
rence is  marked  at  Fig.  14,  6. 

The  'irregular'  bones  or  buffers  are  placed  at 
the  lower  part  of  the  hock,  and  are  two  tiers  hav- 
ing joints  between  them.  They  are  very  much 
jarred  when  the  hock  is  flexed  smartly  as  in  that 
quick  fascinating  hock  action  we  sometimes  wit- 


102  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

ness,  and  then  the  inner  ones  undergo  change 
and  throw  out  a  soft  plastic  material  which  in 
time  hardens  into  bone,  and  is  called  'bone 
spavin'  or  a  'jack.'  Much  depends  on  the  size 
of  these  buffer  bones.  If  they  are  large  they 
serve  their  purj^ose,  and  we  may  have  a  good 
hock.  They  form  the  whole  of  the  lower  part  of 
the  hock,  so  that  we  must  look  for  this  part  to  be 
large  in  every  way. 

80. — The  bone  below  the  hock  is  called  the 
metatarsal  bone,  and  is  like  the  metacarpal  bone 
of  the  fore  leg,  only  it  must  be  thickest  from  be- 
fore backwards. 

81. — The  remaining  bones  are  for  the  most  pai-t 
like  those  of  the  fore  leg. 


LESSON  IX. 

HIND  EXTREMITIES— CONTINUED. 

The  hind  extremities  are  the  propellers  of  the 
body,  and  the  fore  extremities  are  the  weight 
bearers,  roughly  speaking.  The  same  general  re- 
marks which  were  made  regarding  the  fore  ex- 
tremities apply  equally  to  the  hind  ones.  The 
ilio-ischium  representing  the  scapula,  &c.  Where 
we  find  the  bellies  of  groups  of  muscles,  there  we 
find  bulk  and  rotundity.  Those  who  have  an  eye 
for  the  beauty  of  curves  will  find  pleasing  curved 
lines  in  the  outlines  of  a  horse  in  condition.  The 
absence  of  these  beautiful  curves  is  well  marked 
in  horses  not  in  condition.  For  example,  stand- 
ing at  the  side,  but  a  little  behind  a  hunter  in 
condition  (see  Fig.  15),  we  see  prominently  among 
other  curved  lines  the  most  beautiful  curves 
formed  by  the  outhnes  of  the  muscles  of  the 
hind-quarters  and  leg ;  indeed  to  all,  whether 
judges  or  lovers  of  horseflesh  or  not,  this  pro- 
fusion of  elegant  and  varying  curves  set  forth  on 
a  shining  coat,  grace  of  movement  and  the  fire  of 
excess  of  life,  gives  a  thrill  of  pleasure  which 
possibly  no  object  in  nature  can  surpass.  These 
beauties  are  not  surpassed  by  the  most  perfect 
female  (human)  figure,  and  seeing  that  in  our 


104 


LESSONS  m  HORSE   JUDGING. 


social  life  these  latter  are  hidden,  undoubtedly  a 
hunter  in  highest  condition,  prepared  for  the 
chase,  is  perhaps  the  most  entrancing  of  sights. 
Look  out  then  in  judging  a  horse  for  beautiful 

Figure  16. 


1.  Outer  point  of  ilium. 

2.  Point  of  ischium. 

3.  Stifle  joint. 

4.  Calf  of  leg. 


5.  Point  of  hock. 

6.  Curb  i)laee. 

7.  Gaskius. 


curves.  There  are  some — but  they  must  be  first 
rate  judges — who  can  afford  to  lose  sight  of  these 
curves  in  purchasing  what  they  term  a  poor  horse, 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  105 

i.e.,  a  horse  not  in  condition.  When  this  is  so, 
they  must  see  to  the  relative  length  and  hulk  of 
the  levers  (bones)  being  what  is  desirable,  also 
that  the  joints  are  large  and  flat,  and  of  course 
an  absence  of  blemishes.  If  the  bones  of  the  ex- 
tremities are  of  proper  length  and  stoutness,  then 
— except  of  course  in  disease — the  muscles  will 
either  be  in  good  condition,  or  will  be  capable  of 
being  made  so,  and  they  will  be  massive  and  pre- 
sent bold,  beautiful  curved  outlines. 

The  ilio-ischium  should  be  broad  so  as  to  pre- 
sent abundant  surface  for  muscular  attachment. 
If  the  T  shaped  upper  surface  looks  upwards 
from  the  quarters  being  ^ragged'  from  point  1 
(Fig.  11),  being  on  a  level  with  point  2,  then  the 
body  of  muscles  occupying  this  space  will  present 
a  curve  with  a  convexity  looking  directly  up- 
wards (see  Fig.  12).  But  should  point  1  be  much 
lower,  the  convexity  of  the  curve  looks  outwards 
and  upwards  (see  Fig.  13),  and  the  curve  formed 
— as  seen  when  standing  behind — in  the  latter 
case  between  point  1  and  the  stifle  joint  will  be 
less  broken,  and  therefore  the  more  elegant.  The 
depth  of  the  thigh  is  well  seen  from  behind,  but 
it  appears  deeper,  if  not  really  so,  in  such  as  have 
straight  quarters,  for  reasons  we  have  before 
seen.  There  is  just  one  other  obliquity  of  the  in- 
nominate bone  which  we  have  as  yet  not  men- 
tioned. It  obtains  between  the  two  symmetrical 
halves  of  the  innominate  bone — in  other  words, 
between  the  two  ilio-ischia  bones.  When  these 
bones  are  much  divergent  in  front  and  their 
after  points  converge,  a  very  defective  ^setting 


106  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

on '  of  the  hind  hmbs  results  and  the  hind  Hmbs 
look  outwards.  This  being  so,  the  hocks  are 
closer  together,  and  the  horse  is  said  to  be  '  cow 
hocked.'  The  ilio-ischia  bones  ought  to  be  as 
parallal  as  possible,  so  that  the  hind  hmbs  look 
straight  forwards  and  backwards,  when  the  horse 
is  standing.  In  moving,  the  hip  joint  and  the 
screw-hke  astragalus  cause  the  limb  naturally  to 
assume  the  slightly  outward  aspect.  In  ourselves 
this  is  so,  and  the  dancing  master  or  driU  sergeant 
is  not  to  be  thanked  that  our  toes  are  a  little  out- 
turned,  because  as  the  hip  joint  is  constituted 
they  could  not  be  otherwise. 

It  is  hoped  that  the  above  remarks  will  form  a 
good  guide  to  those  who  are  desirous  of  thinking 
out  for  themselves  the  numberless  points  to  be 
observed  in  horse  judging. 

We  shall  now  close  these  remarks  with  a  few 
observations  on  the  hock. 

THE  HOCK. 

82. — Of  all  the  joints  in  the  body  this  is  the 
most  impoi-tant.  We  must  refer  the  reader  to 
our  description  of  the  bones  in  Lesson  VIII.,  and 
remind  him  that  according  to  the  size  of  the  indi- 
vidual bones  alone  the  ajyj^arent  size  of  the  hock 
does  not  depend,  but  more  upon  the  angle  at 
which  the  tibia  impinges  upon  the  astragalus. 
This  is  well  seen  in  extreme  flexion,  when  the 
hock  seems  to  disappear,  leaving  nothing  but  its 
so-caUed  point  in  view.  The  lower  fourth  or 
more  of  the  hock  is  made  up  of  the  buffer  bones 


LESSONS   IN   HORSE  JUDGING.  lOT 

in  front  and  at  the  sides,  consequently  it  is  these 
which  give  the  lower  part  of  the  hock  size.  They 
must  be  large  but  not  necessarily  coarse,  but  they 
may  be  large  and  coarse  and  of  unequal  size  in 
the  two  hocks  and  yet  be  quite  healthy  and  free 
from  ^spavin.'  The  top  of  the  metatarsal  bone 
on  which  they  mainly  rest  must  also  be  large. 
When  this  latter  is  small  we  have  a  grave  defect; 
but  when  it  is  not  only  small,  but  forms  with  the 
buffer  bones  of  the  hock  an  angle,  we  have  a  very 
grave  defect  called  'curby  hocks.' 

The  hock  should  present  on  its  inner  surface  a 
big,  flat,  square  appearance,  and  when  a  horse- 
man speaks  of  hking  a  big,  flat,  square  hock,  he 
refers  to  the  inner  aspect  of  the  hock.  The 
boundaries  of  this  so-called  square  are  as  follows: 
the  internal  maleolus  or  lowest  inner  point  of  the 
tibia;  the  extreme  point  of  the  hock;  the  front 
part  of  the  head  of  the  tibia;  lastly,  the  head  of 
the  small  inner  metatarsal  bone.  These  points 
form  the  four  points  of  the  square,  and  the  sides 
are  the  imaginary  lines  between  these  four  points. 
It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  work  to  speak 
of  morbid  conditions — such  as  spavin,  curb,  ring- 
bone, splint,  and  so  forth,  but  we  must  caution  the 
reader  against  an  appearance  of  ^curb.'  When 
the  head  of  the  outer  small  metatarsal  bone  is 
large,  it  gives  the  side  aspect  of  the  really  good 
well-made  hock  a  'curbed'  appearance,  because 
the  line  from  the  extreme  point  of  hock  to  the 
fetlock  at  the  back  should  be  quite  straight,  and 
is  straight  in  all  except  badly  formed  hocks  and 
such  as  have  '  curbs. '    Even  when  the  head  of 


108  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

the  outer  small  bone  named  is  large  and  breaks 
this  hne  when  viewed  from  the  side,  the  straight 
Une  is  still  fomid  when  you  approach  the  hock 
and  run  your  fingers  down  the  middle  hne  of  the 
parts  behind. 

The  angle  at  the  hock  we  saw  was  formed  by 
the  tibia  impinging  upon  the  astragalus,  and  we 
further  saw  that  the  less  the  angle  the  weaker 
the  hock.  The  hind  legs  must  therefore  be  as 
upright,  or  rather  as  straight  as  possible,  in  order 
to  be  as  strong  as  possible.  But  we  have  already 
seen  that  power  (strength)  is  universally  gained 
at  the  expense  of  speed,  which,  in  turn,  can  only 
be  obtained  by  quickness  and  extent  of  motion  of 
the  parts  most  concerned  in  speed,  so  that  straight 
hind  hmbs  are  stronger,  but  have  less  of  that 
quick  perfect  flexion  or  hock  action  which  has 
such  an  attractive  appearance. 

The  front  and  back  of  the  hock  must  also  have 
plenty  of  breadth.  The  point  of  the  hock  short  of 
being  '  capped '  cannot  be  too  broad. 

83. — The  metatarsal  bone  must  be  short  and 
stout,  and  the  hock  as  near  the  ground  as  possi- 
ble. This  bone  is  thickest  from  before  back- 
wards, and  as  the  back  tendon  must  have  the 
same  characters  as  we  described  in  the  case  of 
the  hke  structure  in  the  fore  limb,  it  follows  that 
these  parts  will  be  altogether  deeper  from  before 
backwards.  As  in  the  case  of  the  fore  limb,  the 
tendon  must  stand  out  distinctly  from  the  bone, 
and  the  suspensory  hgament  must  also  be  well 
defined. 

84. — The  pasterns  must  also  have  much  the 


LESSONS  IN  IIOKSE  JUDGING.  109 

same  qualities  as  those  of  the  fore  Hmb  in  each 
class  of  horse. 

85. — The  foot  also  must  have  the  same  general 
characters  as  the  fore  foot,  but  the  long  axis  of 
its  oval  is  always  from  before  backwards.  The 
hind  foot  does  not  call  forth  the  fraction  of  the 
amount  of  care  as  is  the  case  with  the  fore  foot. 
It  is  less  often  unsound,  and  its  unsoundness  less 
frequently  leads  to  the  same  disastrous  results. 
It  is  well,  however,  to  look  to  it  much  in  the 
same  manner  as  in  the  case  of  the  fore  foot. 


LESSON  X. 

THE  WIND,   COLOR,   HEIGHT,   COAT  AND  HAIR,  AGE. 

The  term  ^  wind '  is  used  by  horsemen  to  signify 
the  respiration  or  breathing  capabihties.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  describe  in  detail  defects  in  ^wind.' 
Normal  or  healthy  breathing,  or  ^  wind, '  will  here 
be  described,  and  from  that  defects  may  be  re- 
cognized. 

When  a  healthy  horse  of  average  size  is  stand- 
ing quietly  in  his  stable,  he  breathes  from  eight 
to  ten  or  twelve  times  a  minute.  I  here  use  the 
term  breathes  in  its  popular  sense,  which  all,  I 
beheve,  understand.  If  the  back  of  the  hand  and 
fingers  be  placed  against  the  ribs,  just  behind  the 
elbow,  the  heart  will  be  felt  to  knock  the  side  in 
beating  about  four  times  the  breathing  rate,  so 
that  a  healthy  horse  having  a  pulse  of  thirty-six 
per  minute  will  breathe  about  nine  times  per 
minute.  In  all  cases  there  ought  to  be  this  ratio 
1 — 4:  or  thereabout.  Sliould  this  ratio  be  absent 
to  any  marked  extent,  such  for  instance  as  a 
breathing  rate  of  fifteen  and  a  pulse  rate  of 
forty,  disease  is  present.  Exercise  in  moderation 
increases  both  pulse  and  respiration,  both  are 
quickened,  but  the  ratio  is  more  or  less  retained. 
Anyhow,  when  the  horse  comes  to  stand  and 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  Ill 

rest,  the  ratio  in  health  is  soon  re-estabhshed.  In 
very  small  horses,  such  as  Shetland  ponies,  the 
pulse  may  be  forty  or  forty-four  per  minute,  and 
the  breathing  eleven,  but  there  is  stiU  the  ratio 
1 — 4:  in  health.  Many  things  disturb  this  ratio — 
disease,  fright,  grief,  joy,  &c. — by  quickening  the 
pulse,  and  affecting  less  the  breathing. 

In  order  to  acquire  dexterity  in  judging  the 
^  wind '  it  is  best  to  get  a  horse  known  to  have 
perfect  Svind'  into  a  grass  field,  and  have  him 
slowly  trotted  round  you  in  a  circle  about  the 
size  of  an  ordinary  horse-rider's  circus.  Noise 
must  necessarily  be  made  in  breathing,  but  there 
ought  to  be  no  distress  exhibited,  no  difficulty  in 
getting  breath,  no  noises  except  soft  blowing — no 
whisthng  or  grunting.  After  a  reasonable  time, 
long  before  the  animal  shows  signs  of  distress,  he 
should  be  stopped,  and  notice  be  taken  liow  long 
the  breathing  is  in  quieting  down.  This  time  is 
easily  judged  if  the  examiner  will  judge  the 
horse  by  himself — if  healthy — as  the  same  length 
of  time  is  required  after  the  same  proportion  of 
exertion  in  the  two  cases.  In  the  autumn  when 
the  horse  has  on  a  long  coat  he  will  feel  distress 
earlier,  and  congestion  of  the  lungs  will  be  more 
easily  induced.  If  exercise  be  not  followed  by 
quieted  respiration,  some  defect  is  present.  Of 
course,  if  undue  exercise  has  been  taken,  then 
the  lungs,  although  healthy,  may  have  become 
congested.  Again,  attention  should  be  given  to 
the  movements  of  the  ribs  on  either  side.  The 
ribs  should  expand  freely  on  both  sides.  In  some 
diseases  of  the  lungs  one  may  become  '  deaf, '  or  a 


112  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

great  part  of  one  may  be  so,  then  the  work  is 
thrown  on  to  the  sound  lung,  and  the  breathing 
capabihties  so  much  decreased.  Tliis  shows  itself 
by  the  affected  side  having  more  hmited  move- 
ment. As  a  general  thing,  fat,  gross  subjects 
have  a  diminished  breathing  capacity,  therefore 
they  are  sooner  distressed,  and  their  breathing 
does  not  quiet  down  so  soon  after  exertion. 
Pregnancy  encroaches  still  more  on  the  breath- 
ing capacities.  Horses  used  to  going  out  of  a 
walking  pace  are  more  likely  to  have  good 
breathing  capacities  than  those  used  for  slow 
work.  With  draught  horses,  puUing  a  load  will 
give  a  better  idea  of  breathing  capabilities  than 
any  other  exercise — care  being  taken  that  the 
collar  fits  well  and  does  not  bear  on  the  wind- 
pipe. 

Some  strike  and  threaten  a  horse  up  against  a 
wall,  or  while  standing  in  his  stall,  with  a  stick. 
Such  a  proceeding  does  not  try  the  'wind,'  but 
will  in  some  cases  elicit  the  peculiar  grunt  or 
roar  in  'roarers,'  and  thus  save  further  trial. 
Further  than  this  the  test  is  useless  and  mis- 
leading. 

COLOR. 

There  is  an  old  saying  that  a  good  horse  can- 
not be  a  bad  color.  This,  hke  most  sayings,  has 
a  germ  of  truth  in  it.  Were  we  to  have  a  free 
choice,  in  all  cases  we  should  select  our  color  as 
follows:  the  best  color  undoubtedly  is  dark  brown, 
with  black  points;  the  next  best  color  is  bay,  with 
black  points.    Light  chestnuts  are  good;  but  dark 


LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING.  113 

chestnuts  are  objectionable,  as  it  is  notorious  that 
after  seven  years  old  their  fore  feet  are  often  con- 
tracted. Grays  and  whites  are  not  bad  colors. 
Black  is  a  hardy  color;  white  stockings  if  they 
exist  largely  on  the  same  horse  are  objectionable, 
especially  if  the  absence  of  pigment  or  coloring 
matter  extends  to  the  horn  of  the  feet.  Of  all 
colors,  yellow  or  Cleveland  bays,  piebalds,  and 
dark  red  chestnuts  are  the  most  objectionable. 
In  the  choice  of  a  horse,  however,  the  purchaser 
should  ask  himself  the  question:  Does  the  horse's 
color  offend  the  eye  ?  If  not,  and  if  the  horse  be 
otherwise  desirable,  the  color  ought  not  to  be  an 
obstacle. 

HEIGHT. 

Having  regard  to  most  speed,  we  should  have 
the  largest  dimensions  possible,  and  therefore  the 
greatest  height  compatible  with  perfection  in 
symmetry.  The  greatest  power  also  requires  the 
greatest  bulk.  A  combination  of  speed  and 
power,  as  exhibited  in  our  type  the  hunter,  has 
its  highest  expression  in  horses  about  fifteen  and 
a  half  hands  high;  half  a  hand  more  or  less  being 
unessential. 

THE  SKIN  AND  ITS  APPENDAGES. 

The  skin  of  the  thoroughbred  is  extremely  thin 
and  dehcate,  and  aUows  the  veins  to  be  seen 
:  through  it,  and  is  covered  with  fine  hair.  That 
of  the  draught  horse  is  thick.  That  of  the 
hunter,  or  power  and  speed  representative,  is  a 
mean  between  the  two  extremes,  and  shows  as 


114  LESSONS  IN  HORSE  JUDGING. 

clearly  as  most  things  whether  the  horse  in  ques- 
tion inclines  to  being  well  bred  and  thin  skinned 
or  the  reverse. 

Much  mane  and  tail  is  a  sign  of  low  breeding. 
A  slight  silky  mane,  with  or  without  a  httle 
wave  in  the  hair,  is  a  desirable  thing.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  the  tail. 

AGE. 

Horses,  as  a  rule,  are  considered  at  then*  best 
at  from  five  to  ten  years  of  age.  Much  depends 
on  the  age  at  which  they  are  put  to  work.  The 
author  has  in  his  mind's  eye  a  case  in  which  a 
gentleman  used  to  break  his  horses  at  four,  but 
did  not  begin  to  use  them  until  eight.  These 
horses,  to  the  author's  own  knowledge,  were  at 
their  prime  from  eight  to  twenty  years  of  age. 

As  horses  are  now  treated,  their  ages  may  be 
compared  with  that  of  man  as  follows: — 

equals  a  man  at        20 
40 

50 

60 

^^  65 

''  90 

''  "  105 

This  calculation  supposes  both  subjects  to  be 
well  treated. 

THE    END. 


A  horse  at 

5 

10 

15 

20 

25 

30 

35 

40 

Burdett's    Dramatic    Recitations    and    Readings. 

Compiled   and   arranged  for  Reading,  Speaking,   Recitations  and  Elecutionary 
exercises. 

CONTENTS. 
Baron's  Last  Banquet, The. 'Forgive,— No,  Never. 


Benediction,  The 

Boat-Race,  The. 

Death. 

Death-bed  of  Benedict  Ar- 
nold. 

Death  of  the  Drunkard 
The. 

Death  of  King  John. 

Death  of  Murat. 

|3eath  of  the  Old  Squire, 
The. 

Death  of  the  Reveller,The. 

Dream  of  Eugene  Aram, 
The. 

Dying  Hebrew,  The. 

Education. 

Evangelist,  The. 

Fearless  DeCourcy,  The. 

Flight  for  Life,  The. 


Forgotten  Actor,  The. 
Galley-Slave.  The. 
Game  Knut  Played,  The. 
Iv.^n,  The  Czar. 
Jean  Goello's  Yarn. 
King  Robert  of  Sicily. 
Last  Banquet,  The. 
Legend  of   the   Church  of 

Los  Angeles,  A. 
Legend  of  a  Veil. 
Leper,  The. 
Little  Ned. 
"  Lynch  for  Lynch." 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots. 
Marseillaise  at  Sebastopol, 

The. 
Mask  and  Domino. 
Night  Watch,  The. 
Ode  to  Eloquence. 


Bound  in  illuminated  paper  coven     - 


O  Maria,  Reg^na  Misericor- 
diae. 

One  of  King  Charles'  Mad- 
cap Men. 

Painter  of  Florence,  The. 

Parrhasius. 

Portrait,  The. 

Ramon. 

Rescue,  The. 

Richelieu ;  or,  the  Con- 
spiracy. 

Sea  Captain's  Story,  The. 

Spanish  Page,  The. 

Three  Words  (The),  Ar- 
nold, the  Traitor. 

Tiger  Bay. 

Told  at  the  Falcon. 

Two  Loves  and  a  Life. 


Price,  25  cents. 


BURDETT'S  NEGRO  DIALECT  RECITATIONS  AND  BDIIORO&S  READINGS. 

Containing  the  latest  and  best  hints   of  modem  Negro    Ministrelsy,  being  by  far 
the  most  perfect  book  of  its  kind  ever  published. 

CONTE  NTS. 


An  Examination  in  History, 
Apples  :  an  Original  Negro 

Lecture. 
Bad  Churchman,  A. 
Blind  Ned. 
Brjther  Anderson. 
Brother  Gardner  and  Judge 

Cadaver. 
Brother  Gardner  on  Music. 
Brudder       Bones's      Love 

Scrape. 
Brudder     Plato    Johnson's 

Sermon. 
"  Business  "  in  Mississippi. 
Caesar  Rowan. 
Christmas  Baby,  The. 
Christmas     Night     in     the 

Quarters, 
Colored    Preacher's    Relig- 
ious  Experience,  A. 
Darky  Bootblack,  The. 
Darky  Preacher,  The. 
Darky's  Story,  The. 
De  Cake  Walk. 
Devil's  Ride,  The, 
First  Banjo,  The. 
Half-Way  Doings. 
How     Persimmons 

Cah  ob  de  Baby, 

Bound  in  illuminated  paper  cover. 


Kentucky  Philosophy 
Mahsr  John. 

Marcellino's  Conversion. 
Marriage  a  Mighty  Serious 

Thing. 
Momma  Phoebe. 
Negro  Aphorisms. 

Nigger  Made  Happy." 
"  No  Party  To-Night." 
Old  Daddy  Turner. 
Old    Hostler's    Experience, 

The. 

Ole  Man's"  Lament,  The. 
Old  Sambo  Puzzled. 
Old    Si    Pilots    a 

Hunt. 


Took 


Ship  of  Faith,  The. 

Solium  Fac',  A. 

Sunday  Fishin'. 

Teco  Brag's  Lecture. 

Ter'ble  'Sperience,  A. 

Terpsichore    in     the     Flat 
Creek  Quarters. 

Three  Wishes,  1  he. 

Uncle    Anderson   on  Pros- 
perity. 

Uncle    Billy  and   the  Civil 
Rights  Bill. 

Uncle  Eph   Kimble's  Mis- 

j     take. 
Possum  Uncle  Gabe's  White  Folks. 

lUr.cle  Ike's  Roosters. 


Parson  Snow's  Broad  Hint.jUncle  Joel. 

Pine  Town  Darky  D  ebating  Uncle  Ned's  Defence. 

Society.  The.  lUncle     Pete     and     Mars^ 

Plar  ration  Song,  A.  |     George. 

Precepts  at  Parting.  Uncle  Reuben's  Baptism. 

Professor  Barbour's  E  xperi-  Vv  ar  of  Races,  The. 

ment.  I"  Whar's  de  Kerridge  ?  " 

Rev.  Plato  Johnson  Visits  What's  a  Dolla  to  a  Man 

New  York,  The. 
Rev.  Uncle  Jim's  Sermon, 

The. 
Sambo's  Dilemjna. 
ISam's  Feast. 


wid  a  Family 
What  Troubled  the  Nigger. 
Wounded  in  the  Corners. 


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BURDETT'S 


Heroic  Recitations  and  Readings. 


Ballad  of  Roland  Clare,  The. 

Battle  of  Fontenoy,  The. 

BatUe  of  Ivry.  Ihe. 

Battle  of  Mongarten,  The. 

Beau. 

Beth  Gelert 

Bill  Gibbon's  Delirerance. 

"Bill  Mason's  Bride. 

Caldwell  of  Sprin^eld 

Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade, 

Tha 
Christian  Maiden  and  the  Lion, 

The. 
Cowardly  Jim. 

Curfew  must  not  Ring  To-night 
Death  of  "Old  Braze." 
Defence  of  Lucknow,  The. 
Diver,  The. 

Downfall  of  Poland,  The. 
Execution  of  Montrose,  The. 


COaNTTEZlSrTS. 

Execution  of  Queen  Mary. 

Father  John. 

Fireman,  The. 

Glove  and  the  Lions.  The. 

Henry  of  Navan-e  before  Paris. 

Heroism. 

Herve  RieL 

How  he  Saved  St  Michael's. 

How  Jane  Conquest  Rang  the 

BelL 
In  the  Tunnel. 
Jim  Bludsoe. 

John  Bartholomew's  Ride. 
.John  Maynard- 
Kate  Maloney, 
Karl  the  Martyr. 
Last  Redoubt,  The 
Leaguer  of  Lucknow,  The. 
Leap  of  Roushan  Beg,  The. 
Little  Hero,  The. 


Lochinvar. 

Main  Truck,  The  ;  or,  A  Leap 

for  Life. 
Marco  Bozzaris. 
Martjrs  of  Sandomir,  The. 
O'Murtogh. 
Phil.  Blood's  Leap. 
Polish  Boy,  The. 
Rid«  of  Jennie  McNeal.  The. 
Sergeant's  Story.  The,  of  the 

Light  Brigade. 
Seventh  Fusileers,  The. 
Ship  on  Fire,  The. 
Spanish  Armada.  The, 
Spanish  Mother.  Th>\ 
Supporting  the  Guns. 
Tom. 

Trooper's  Story;  The. 
True  Hero.  A. 


Bound  ill  Illustrated  Paper  Cover.     Price  35   Cents. 

BURDETT'S 

Patriotic  Recitations  and  Readings. 


After  the  Battle. 

America. 

American  Flag.  The. 

Arnold  Winkleried. 

Barbara  Frietcliie. 

Battle  of  Fort  Moultrie,  The. 

Battle-Flag    at     Shenandoah 

The. 
Battle  of  Bunker  Hill. 
Battle  of  Lexington,  The. 
Battle    of  Lookout  Mountain, 

The. 
Battle  of  Gettysburg,  The. 
Battle-Flrtgs.  "Th«. 
-Bay  Bill*-  " 
Bivouac  of  the  Dead.  The. 
Blue  and  the  Gray,  The. 
Boston  Boys. 
Caldwell  of  Sprinpflpld. 
Capture  of  Stony  Point,  The. 
i'hargc  by  the  Foixl.  The. 
Columbia. 

Conquered  Banner,  The. 
Decoration  Day. 


COlSTTZErsTTS. 

Drafted, 

Duty  of  the  American  Scholar 
E  Piuribus  Unum 
Ensign-Bearer,  The. 
Foes  Unite<l  in  Death. 
Fourth  of  July. 
•  '.eorgia  Volunteer  The. 
Gun  of  Xew  Or. onus  The. 
.loiin  Burns  of  Gettysburg. 
Kearny  at  Seven  Piues. 
Kelly's  Ferrj-. 
Kentucky  Belle. 
Little  Kcginient.  The. 
lAiokout  Mountain.  1863. 
Miles  Keogh's  Hors». 
Nation's  Hymn.  The. 
Nation's  Dead.  The. 
<  >Id  Sergeant.  Tlie, 
I  lid  Soldier's  Siory.  The. 
Old  Surgeon's  Storv.  The. 
Old  Soldier  Trump;  The. 
Old  Canteen.  The. 
One    in      Blue      and    One    In 
Gray 


Opposition     to    Misgovern- 

ment. 
Our  Whole  Country. 
Our  Country. 
Our  Heroes. 
Paul  Kevere's  Ride. 
Patriotism. 
Patriot  Spy,  The. 
Pride  of  Battery  B,   The. 
Revolutionary  Rising    The. 
Savinitof  the  Color.-;.  The. 
Scott  and  the  Veteran. 
Sheridan's  Hide. 
Somebodv's  Darling. 
Sprig  of  6rcen.  Tli.-. 
Stars  and  Strii-es,  The. 
Substitute.  The. 
Sword     of     Bunker      Hill, 

The. 
Tribute     to     our     Honored 

Dead,  A. 
Union  and  Liberty 
I'liion  of  the  States.  The. 
L'ulou  Liuked  with  Liberty. 


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Biirdett's  Serio-Comic  Recitations  and  Readings. 

Being  a  new  collection  of  humorous,  dramatic,  serious,  and  dialect 
Recitals  in  prose  and  poetry,  adapted  and  arranged  for  public  or  parlor 
entertainments. 


CONTENTS. 


An  Irish  Letter 

An  Oration  on  Spunk 

Arkansaw  Traveller 

Aux  Italiens 

Ballad  of  Cassandra  Brown, 
The 

Battle  of  Limerick,  The 

''Bay  Billy" 

Beau 

Bill  Brown  (from  Cohoes)  - . . 

Bill  Mason's  Bride 

Blind  Mother,  The 

Brother  Bill 

Brother  Gardner  on  Liars  . . . 

Caoch  the  Piper 

Chess  Board,  The 

Clerical  Wit 

Cut  Behind 

Death  of  the  Old  Squire,  Tlie 

Der  Mule  Shtood  on  der 
Steamboad  Deck 

Dot  Baby  off  Mine 

Dutchman's  Family,  The 

Engineers  Making  Love 

Fashionable  School-Girl 

For  Life  and  Death 

Hard  Witness,  A 

Hezekiah  Bedott 

His  Son  Jim's  Bay  Mare 

Home  Again 

Horse,  The.  (A  Boy's  Com- 
position)   

160  pa^es,  iliiimimited  cover.    Price  25c. 

For  sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  will  be  sent  postpaid  on 
receipt  of  price. 


How  the  Old  Horse  Won  the 
Bet 

In  der  Shweed  Long  Ago 

Irish  Philosopher,  The 

Jew  and  the  Jewels,  The 

Jiners,  The 

Knight's  Toast,  The 

Language  of  the  Rail,  The.. 

Mary's  Little  Lamb 

Me  and  My  Dog 

Modern  Education 

Mr.  Molony's  Account  of  the 
Ball 

Mule,  The 

New  Church  Organ,  The 

* '  Nebuchadnezzar  " 

''Ole  Marster's''  Christmas, 
The 

Pat's  Bondsman 

Postilion  of  Nagold,  The 

Regret 

Religious  Card  Player,  The . . 

Royal  Bumper  Degree,  The. 

Sergeant's  Story,  The 

' '  Solomonism  "... 

Spartacus  with  Modern  Im- 
provements   

TelephT)nic  Conversation,  A- 

Weather  Fiend,  The 

Widder,  The 

Widow  Bedott's  Poetry,  The 


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Burden's    Dutch   Dialect  Recita- 
tions and  Readings. 

Being  No.  1  of  the  Burdeit  Series  of  Recitations  andKeadings.  This  col- 
lection  of  amusing  and  laue:hable  Recitations  embraces  all  the  newest  and 
2io8t  successful  piect'S,  original  and  selected,  with  which  the  celebrated 
Header,  Jas.  S.  Burdett,  invariably  "  brings  down  the  house,"  besides  a 
boat  of  other  Dialect  Selections  in  general  use  by  other  leading  Public 
Keaders  of  the  present  day. 

COISTTEllMXS  . 


ra  FrietcWe 

Bet<=ey  und  I  Hafe  Bust  CTb 

Charge  of  de  "  Dutch  Brigade,"  The 

Deitsche  Advertisement 

Dem  Ole  dim(  s  Habbiness  and  dem 

New 

Der  Baby 

Der  Dog  und  der  Lobster 

Der  Drummer 

Der  Good  Lookin'  Shnow 

Der  Moon 

Der  Mule  Shtood  on  der  Steamboad 

Deck -.... 

Dtr  Nighd  Pehind  Grisdmas 

Der  Schleighride  .  

Der  Wreck  of  der  Hezberus 

Dhree  Skaders 

Don'd  Feel  Too  Big 

Dot  Funny  Leetle  Baby 

Dot  Lambs  vot  Mary  Haf  Got 

Dot  Leedle  Loweeza 

Dot  Loaf  of  Bread 

Dot  Shly  Leedle  Raskel 

Dot  Surprise  Party 


How  Jake  Schneider  Went  Blind  . . 

How  "  Sockery  "  Set  a  Hen 

How    the    Dutchman    Killed    the 

Woodchuck 

Initiated  as  a  Member  of  the  United 

Order  of  Half -Shells 

Isaac   Rosenthal   on   the    Chinese 

Question  

I  Vash  So  Glad  I  Vash  Here 

Jew's  Troubles,  A 

Katrina  Likes  Me  Poody  Well...... 

Katrina'8  Visit  to  New  York 

Life,  Liberty  and  Lager 

Lookout  Mountam,  1863— Beutelsh- 

bach.1880 

Little  Yawcob  Strauss 

Maud  Muller 

Marriage  Ceremony,  The ..... 

Mine  Katrine 

Mine  Shildrcn 

Mr.  Schmidt's  Mistake 

Mygel  Snyder's  Barty 

Oration  on  he"  Labor"  Question.. 
Overcoat  H    Got,  The 


Dot  Young  Viddow  Clara |  Pretzel's  Speech  Before  the  -Uinoia 

Dutchman's  Experience i  Assembly 

Dutchman's  Dolly  Varden,  A Romoo  and    ulie    

Dutchman  8  Telephone,  A |  Schlausheimer's  Alarming-^lock  .. 

Dutchman's  Tesimiony  in  a  Steam- 


boat Case,  A. 
Dutchman  and  the  Raven.  The  .... 

Dutch  Recruiting  Officer,  A 

Dutch  Sermon,  A 

Dutchman's  Serenade.  The 

Dutchman's  Snake,  The...   .- 

Dutchman  and  the  Yanaee 

Dvin'  V^ords  of  Isaac 

Efn  Deutsches  Lied 

Fine  Old  Dutch  GentIeman,*The  . . . 

Fritz  und  I 

German  Speech  of  Hcrr  Hans  Yager, 

The 

Go  Vay.  Becky  Miller,  Qo  Vay 

Gosling's  Wife  Snores -.  .. 

Hans  Breitmann  and  the  Turners.. 

Hans  and  Fritz 

Hans  in  a  Fix 

Han'e  Midnight  Excuses 

Hans  Sonrcrout  on  Signs  and  Omens 

Home  Again 

How  a  Dutchman  was  Done 

How  Hans  Yager  Enjoyed  the  Opera 
In  a  handsome  illnstrnted  cover 


Schlausheinier  Don't  Gonciliatc  ... 

Schloi^ser's  Ride 

Schneider's  Ride 

Schnitzel's  Philo8opede 

Schneider  Sees  Leah 

Schneider's  Tomatoes ...  

Shake's  Telephone 

Shoo  Flies 

Shonny,  Don'd  You  Hear  Me  f 

Shonny  Schwartz 

Bnyder's  Nose 

Sockery  Kadacut's  Kat 

Teaching  Him  the  Business 

Temperance  Speech 

Tiamonds  on  der  Prain 

To  a  Friend  Studying  German 

Touching  Appeal,  A 

"TwoTollar" 

Vas  Bender  Henshpecked      

Yawcob's  Losing  Deal 

Yankee  and  the  Dutchman's  Dog, 

The 

Yoppy  Varder  unt  Hees  Droubles. . 

Zwei  Lager 

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Art  of  Training  Animals.— A  complete  guide  for  ama- 
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the  craft,  and  showing  how  all  circus  tricks,  and  all  feats  of  all  per- 
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mg  birds,  snake  charming,  bee  taming,  and  many  other  things,  making 
a  large,  handsinne  volume  of  over  aiX)  pages  and  60  illustrations.  It 
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and  every  boy  who  has  dogs  or  other  pets  will  find  it  a  source  of 
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good  present     .    .     ...50cts. 

(An  edition  embracing  also  The  Horseshoer's  Manual  and  Youatt's 
Treatise  on  Diseases  of  the  Horse's  Foot,  in  one  handsome  cloth-bound 
volume,  at  $1  00.) 

Art  of  Wood  Engraving.— A  practical  instructor  by 
which  an}'  one  can  learn  a  good  trade.  Many  young  ladies  have  had 
gratifying  success,  and  executed  very  creditable  and  profitable  work 
after  a  few  mouths  practice.     Profusely  illustrated  25  cts. 

Artist's  Manual.— A  practical  guide  to  Oil  and  Water- 
Color  Painting,  Crayon  Drawing,  etc.  By  James  Beahd  and  other  emi- 
nent artists.  Now  that  so  many  are  taking  up  art  studies,  this  book 
meets  a  want  which  can  be  filled  by  no  other  single  volume.  It  is  very 
clear,  full,  and  explicit,  and  teaches  the  best  methods.  Mr  Beard  is 
widely  and  favorably  known  as  an  artist  and  writer,  and  his  book  may 
therefore  be  relied  upon.  It  gives  the  able  and  conscientious  aid  of  an 
expert,  hence  is  peculiarly  helpful.    Illustrated  5U  cts. 


Bad  Memory  Made  Good,  and  Good  Made  Better.— Shows 

how  0.  wonderful  power  of  memory  may  be  acquired  by  a  simple  art, 
readily,  and  enables  its  i)ossessor  to  achieve  feats  incomprehensible  to 
thoi^e  ignorant  <  f  the  secret.  It  will  be  of  great  assistance  to  teachers, 
pupils,  and  professional  men  generally.  Clergymen  and  speakers  will 
save  much  time  by  its  chapter  on  Speaking  without  Notes  ;  students 
preparing  for  examination  will  be  greatly  aided  Vi  cts. 

Baker's  Manual.— This  is  a  practical  instructor  in  all 
branches  of  the  business,  including  American,  French,  and  German 
styles  of  work,  pastry,  cake,  and  various  kinds  of  bread,  biscuit,  etc 
It  gives  many  novelties  whose  recipes  are  sold  at  high  prices  and  any 
baker  will  find  it  pay  him  to  get  this  book  A  good  idea  of  the  real 
value  of  this  book  is  given  by  the  fact  that  the  only  similar  work, 
scarcely  as  large,  has  been  selling  to  the  trade  for  $5  a  copy.  Any  in- 
telligent cook  can  make  the  mo.st  palatable  and  attractive  articles  with 
the  aid  of  our  plain  and  simple  directions.  Special  attention  is  directed 
to  the  line  of  fashionable  cakes  and  pastries.  The  breadmaking  in- 
struction is  also  very  reliable  and  covers  every  variety  50  cts. 

EXCELSIOR  PUBLISHING  HOUSE,  29  &  31  Beekman  St.,  New  York,  N.Y. 
P    O.   Box   1144. 


New  and  Popular  Books  sent  Free  of  Postage  at  Prices  Annexed. 
Barkeeper's  Manual.— Only  professional  book  of  the  kind 

and  the  recognized  standard  with  New  York  barkeepers.  It  gives  all 
plain  and  fancy  mixed  drinks,  and  the  popular  beverages  of  all  sec- 
lions.  It  is  designed  for  hotels,  steamers,  restaurants,  club  houses, 
saloons,  and  wherever  a  reliable  guide  of  this  kind  is  required.  It  also 
gives  chapters  on  preparation  of  wines,  cordials,  liquors,  bitters, 
syrups,  aerated  summer  beverages,  artificial  champagne,  cider,  and 
numerous  useful  recipes  and  practical  suggestions  to  the  profes- 
sion    .   .-... ..   .SOcts. 

Black-Soard  in  the  Sunday-School.— A  practical  guide 

for  Superintendents  and  Teachers.  By  Fr,a.nk  Beard  With  numerous 
illustrations.  Just  the  thing  wanted,  giving  just  the  information  needed 
to  enable  any  superintendent  or  teacher  to  use  the  Black-board  in  the 
work  of  the  Sunday-School,  including  instructions  for  plain  and  ct>lored 
drawings  and  every  branch  of  the  subject.  Cloth,  gold  and  black 
stamping , $1.50 

Book  of  Scrolls  and  Ornaments.— For  Car,  Carriage, 

Fresco  and  other  Painters.  This  book  is  now  used  in  many  prominent 
car  shops,  and  for  ornauiental  work  generally  Mr.  J  H.  Loudolphe 
gives  the  besc  ideas,  and  Ins  work  herein  maintains  the  reputation  his 
work  in  tlie  shop  gave  him.  It  is  ))riiicipaliy  devoted  to  flat  ornamen- 
tation. The  work  is  a  favorite  with  the  profession,  and  is  a  storehouse 
of  valuable  designs  for  a  great  variety  of  pui-poses  .   $1  00 

Book  of  Alphabets. — For  Painters,  Draughtsmen,  De- 
signers, etc.  Including  all  standard  styles  and  many  new  and  popular 
ones.    Among  otheis,  German.  French,  Old  English,  etc c;0  cts. 

Book  of  Japanese  Ornamentation.— A  collection  of  de- 
signs adapted  to  the  use  of  decorators,  designers,  sign  painters,  silver 
smiths,  and  others.  Ic  meets  the  want  created  by  the  prevailing  fash- 
ion for  "Jap,"  and  will  be  found  highly  usefulfor  a  variety  of  purposes 
The  designs  are  all  practical,  and  range  from  the  simplest  styles  to  the 
most  elaborate  work.  "This  collection  will  be  found  useful  to  the  sign 
painter,  designer,  decorator,  and  others  for  whom  it  is  intended."— 
Painter's  Magazine,  "  Deserves  study  by  all  painters  interested  in  dec 
oration. "--i/u6 . S-OO 

Books  of  Advertised  Wonders.— This  is  a  collection  of 

the  secrets,  money-making  recipes,  wonders,  and  various  things  adver- 
tised by  circulars  and  new.-^Dapers  to  catch  curious  people.  Some  are 
good,  some  bad,  some  inditTerent  $'2M  were  .spent  to  collect  them,  and 
here  you  have  them  for  'A)  cents,  with  our  comments  as  to  the  humbugs 
when  they  are  such.  There  are  enough  good  things  to  pay  almost  any 
one  for  the  outlay  of  fifty  cents,  and  many  persons  will  avoid  paying 
much  hign      pi  ices  for  some  by  getting  this  book 50  cts 

Candy  Maker —A  complete  guide  for  making  all  plain 
and  fancy  candies,  bonbons,  etc.  It  tells  exactly  how  to  boil  the  sugar 
or  molasses  successfully  for  every  kind  of  caiuly  huw  to  color,  flavor, 
and  every  operation  This  is  a  good  trade  in  every  city,  town,  and  vil 
lage,  and  is  easily  learned  Fresh  candies  of  all  fashionable  kinds  sell 
readily  at  immense  pioiits,  and  will  build  up  a  trade  in  any  community 
now  using  the  factory  kinds.  Any  grocer  or  baker  could  add  largely 
to  his  prcflt  in  a  small  place  by  introtlucing  a  few  of  these  specialties 
The  book  also  givfs  a  full  line  of  s)'rups  for  soda  water,  recipes  for 
many  popular  styles  of  ice  cream,  and  other  information.  Illus- 
trated  50  cts. 

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New  and  Popular  Books  sent  Free  of  Postage  at  Prices  Annexed. 
Carpenter's  Manual.— Instructs  in  the  use  of  tools  and 

the  various  operations  of  the  trade,  inchidins:  drawing:  for  carpenters, 
forms  of  contracts,  specifications,  etc  ,  with  })lain  instructions  for  be- 
iriiHiers,  and  full  glossary  of  terms  used  in  the  trade.  Also  gives  plans 
and  specifications  for  building  a  number  of  frame  houses  Illus- 
trated   50  cts. 

Detective's  Club.— A  most  interesting  book  of  detective 
life  and  adventure  Curious,  amusing,  and  thrilling.  Large  illu.strated 
volume 25  cts. 

Diseases  of  Dogs.— Their  pathology,  diagnosis,  and  treat- 
ment;  to  which  is  added  a  complete  dictionary  of  canine  materia 
niedica  A  practical  guide  for  every  dog  owner  Tells  how  to  prevent 
as  well  as  to  cure  diseases,  and  gives  much  information  on  care  and 
management  of  dogs  If  you  have  a  valuable  sporting  or  watch  dog, 
or  a  pet  dog  of  any  kind,  you  should  get  this  book  for  its  valuable  sug- 
gestions on  care  of  dogs,  and  for  handy  reference  in  any  emergency. 
It  is  thoroughly  reUable,  and  simple  and  explicit  in  its  language   25  cts. 

Dog  Training. — Chapters  on  dog  training  from  the  "Art 
of  Training  Animals."  The  following  briefly  gives  an  idea  of  its  con- 
tents •  Watch  dogs,  their  selection  and  value,  shepherd's  dogs,  differ- 
ent kinds  and  their  respective  merits  and  defects,  their  rearing  and 
training  Varieties  and  merits  of  sporting  dogs  ;  preliminary  train- 
ing, lessons  in  the  field  ,  water  dogs.  Performing  Dogs — Simple  tricks 
and  training,  to  teach  him  his  naine.  to  leap,  to  walk  erect,  to  dance, 
to  jump  rope,  to  sit  and  lie  down  at  command,  to  beg,  to  give  his  paw, 
to  sneeze,  to  speak  for  it  to  fetch  and  carry,  to  bring  you  his  tail  in  his 
mouth,  to  stand  on  a  ball  and  roll  it  up  and  down  a  plank,  to  walk  on 
stilts,  to  go  up  and  down  a  ladder,  to  stand  on  his  head,  and  walk  on 
fore-legs,  to  "sing,"  lump  of  sugar  trick,  to  feign  death 25  cts. 

Dyer  and  Scourer.— A  complete  practical  guide,  designed 

especially  for  the  use  of  job  dyers.  It  includes  dyeing  silk,  stuff,  or 
mixed  goods,  cotton,  raw  wool  scouring,  scouring  for  job  dyers,  and 
job  dyeing  in  all  its  branches 50  cts. 

Employment   Seeker's    Guide.— Gives  advantages  and 

objections  of  different  trades  and  professions  ;  how  to  succeed  in  bus- 
iness ,  how  lo  get  good  situations,  new  openings,  and  much  valuable 
practical  information.  Boys  and  young  men  will  get  useful  hints  from 
its  pages  that  may  assist  them  throughout  their  business  career.  Par- 
ents would  And  it  a  good  book,  interesting,  as  well  as  helpful,  to  place 
in  the  hands  of  sons  or  daughters,  as  the  employments  of  women  are 
also  treated  25  cts. 

Fun  Everlasting-— A  large  collection  of  choice  humorous 
stories,  jests,  puns,  witticisms,  etc.,  which  will  afford  hearty  laughter, 
the  whole  illustrated  by  numerous  comic  engravings.  You  can  invest 
a  dime  with  certainty  of  being  well  pleased,  to  say  nothing  of  giving 
your  whole  family  something  to  amuse  them  into  the  bargain  It  is 
one  of  the  best  selling  funny  books,  and  it  pleases  every  tiiTie  . .  10  cts 

Furniture  and  Cabinet  Finisher.— A  guide  to  polishing, 

staining,  dyeing,  and  other  preparations  of  hard  and  soft  woods,  includ- 
ing the  various  imitations  of  costly  woods,  and  a  multitude  of  trade 
recipes,  and  secrets  of  the  trade 50  cts. 

EXCELSIOR  PUBLISHING  HOUSE,  29  k  31  Beekman  St.,  New  York,  N.Vi 
P.  O.  Box  1144. 


New  and  Popular  Books  sent  Free  of  Postage  at  Prices  Annexed. 
Gilder's  Manual. — A  practical  guide  to  gilding  in  all  its 

branches  as  used  in  the  several  trades,  such  as  interior  decoration,  pict- 
ure and  looking-glass  frames,  oil  and  water  gilding,  regilding,  gilding 
signs. glass,  china,  pottery,  etc..  gilding  on  muslin,  silk,  etc.,  gilding  on 
metals,  imitation  gilding,  gilding  for  printers,  silvering,  silver  electro- 
plating, silvering  looking-glasses,  etc.,  etc  .,..,. 50  cts. 

Guide  to  Authorship. — A  practical  instructor  in  all  kinds 
of  literary  work,  and  all  business  connected  therewith  Useful  to  pro 
fessionals  and  invaluable  to  inexperienced  writers  desiring  to  get  into 
print  Also  includes  editing,  proof-reading,  copyrights,  value  and  dis- 
posal of  MSS.,  etc.  It  is  just  the  book  needed  by  ail  who  write 
for  the  press,  and,  as  the  New  York  Evening  Mail  says,  ''  will 
save  them  asking  a  great  many  questions  or  making  a  great 
many  blunders.'  Godey's  Lady's  Book  says  that  it  "will  be  of  great 
service  to  those  who  contemplate  a  trial  of  the  pleasures  and  pains  of 
a  literary  hfe  ''  The  Philadelphia  City  Item  says  :  "Those  who  read  it 
will  never  regret  :  those  who  do  not  will  be  compelled  some  day  to  ac- 
knowledge they  have  neglected  an  interesting  and  valuable  work." 
Many  teachers  and  others  are  doing  well  by  writing  during  leisure 
hours.  Though  not  a  "school^  book,  it  will  be  useful  to  pupils  pre- 
paring *"  compositions,''  essays,  valedictories,  etc. .  —  ■. 50  cts. 

Gunsmith's  Manual.— A  complete  handbook  for  the  Amer- 
ican gunsmith,  being  a  practical  guide  to  all  branches  of  the  trade. 
This  book  is  designed  to  furnish  such  information  as  shall  be  of  most 
use  in  the  actual  every-day  work  of  the  shop,  and  for  such  demands  or 
emergencies  as  are  liable  to  challenge  the  knowledge  or  skill  of  the 
workman  The  work  covers  descriptions  of  guns  and  pistols,  fitting 
up  a  shop,  general  gunsmitliing.  taking  apart,  cleaning,  and  putting 
together  ;  tools  required  ;  how  to  make  tools  ;  the  work-bench  ;  work- 
ing in  iron,  steel,  copper,  brass,  silver,  and  wood  ;  gun-stocks,  gun- 
barrels,  tools  for  breeching  guns,  tools  for  chambering  breech- 
loading  barrels,  gun  ribs,  thimbles,  rifling  guns,  gun-locks,  fitting 
gun  hammers,  nipples,  or  coups;  springs,  rods,  bullet  molds,  screw- 
making  tools  ,  nomenclature;  browning  and  recipes  for  browning,  val- 
uable miscellaneous  recipes  too  numerous  to  mention  ;  powder  and 
shot  ;  judging  the  quality  of  guns  ;  using  the  rifie,  using  the  shot-gun, 
using  the  pistol  ;  vocabulary  of  mechanical  terms  used  by  gun-mak- 
ers; vocabulary  of  chemicals  and  substances  used  in  varuislies,  etc.; 
calibers  of  guns  ;  rifling,  twist  of  rifles,  etc. ,  directions  for  taking 
apart  and  assembling  guns,  rifles,  and  pistols.  A  handsome  volume  of 
nearly  400  large  pages  with  numerous  engravings,  diagrams,  and 
plates.    Cloth  $2.00 

Hand-book  of  Dominoes.— Giving  all  popular  and  new 

games  to  be  played  with  dominoes   15  cts. 

Hand-book  of  Ventriloquism, -A  practical  self-instructor, 

with  examples  for  practice  and  t-xhibition.  This  book  is  the  best  for 
learning  the  art  Many  boys  have  done  so  from  its  instruction,  and 
have  exhibited  to  us  specimens  of  their  accomplishments.  Any  buy 
can  learn  by  intelligent  practice  with  its  aid.  No  one  can  become  a 
ventriloquist  by  merely  reading.  It  tells  also  how  to  make  the  "  magic 
whistle,^  for  imitating  birds,  animals,  insects,  etc  15  cts. 

Haney's  Readings  and  Recitations,— For  professional 

and  amateur  readers  and  reciters,  and  for  school  practice  and  exhibi- 
tion. Fourteen  books  now  ready,  all  different  ,  any  one  will  suit  you. 
[contents  of  each  book  mailed  on  apphcation  ]    Price  of  each  . .  25  cts. 

EXCELSIOR  PUBLISHING  HOUSE,  29  &  31  Beekman  St.,  New  York,  N.Y. 
P    O    Box   1144. 


hiewand  Popular  Books  sent  Free  of  Postage  at  Prices  Annexed. 
Haney's  Fancy  Alphabets.— For  sign  painters.    This 

work  meets  a  want  It  ^ives  the  fashionable  styles  of  the  day  and  oriff 
iual  designs  of  great  beauty  and  utility  Sign  painters  who  want  the 
novelties  of  New  York  experts  should  get  this  work.  It  will  help  you 
to  keep  customera  and  get  uew  cues 50  cts. 

Home  Recreations ;  or,  How  to  Amuse  the  Young  Folks  — 
Designed  to  afford  fresh  and  agreeable  enteriannnent  for  juvenile  par- 
ties, holidays,  and  the  home  circle.  It  will  give  many  pleasant  hours 
and  keep  young  folks  out  of  mischief,  and  make  them  find  employment, 
in  their  home  circle  contentedly  Parents,  get  a  copy  by  all  means 
Illustrated ...        25  cts. 

Horse-Shoer's  Manual.— Includes  preparation  of  foot, 
choice  of  shoes  and  their  preparation,  fitting,  filing,  nails  and  nailing, 
shoeing  with  leather,  cuttmg,  removing,  etc.  Also,  Youatts  Treatise 
on  Diseases  of  Horses'  Feet.  Bonner's  famous  horse,  Dexter,  owed 
much  of  his  value  to  good  shoeing,  and  with  all  horses  it  is  of  grave 
importance.  This  book  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  professional 
horse-shoer,  and  every  horse-owner ,     .  ,   , . . 25  cts. 

Houdin  the  Conjurer.— This  life  of  the  famous  French 

Conjurer  is  full  of  interesting  adventures,  "more  fascinating  than  fic- 
tion."   Illustrated  witli  numerous  engravings 50cts. 

How  I  Became  a  Ventriloquist.— Describing  the  methods 

by  which  the  author  acquired  the  amusing  art,  and  also  his  diverting 
experience  therewith 10  cts. 

How  to  Make  Up  for  the  Stage. — A  practical  illustrated 

guide  for  amateur  theatricals,  charades,  tableaux,  etc.  This  is  invalu 
able  to  any  one  getting  up,  or  participating  in,  any  of  these  entertain- 
ments   - 15  cts. 

Humors  of  Ventriloquism. — Full  of  the  most  entertain- 
ing and  laughable  scenes,  etc 10  cts. 

Hunters  and  Trappers'  Practical  Guide— This  little 

book  has  immen.se  sale,  and  gives  satisfaction  every  time.  It  is  a  prac- 
tical guide  to  gunning  and  rifle  shooting,  tells  how  to  choose  arms  and 
ammunition,  about  different  kinds  of  game,  making  and  using  traps, 
snares,  and  nets,  baits  and  baiting  traihng  game,  preserving,  dressing, 
tanning,  and  dyeing  skins  and  furs  ;  season  for  trapping,  hints  to  trap 
pers,  fire  hunting,  pigeon  catching,  camping  out;  sporting  vocabulary, 
recipes  for  sportsmen,  secret  of  successful  fishing.  It  has  more  in- 
formation than  books  costing  $1  to  $2,  and  must  not  be  confounded 
with  any  catchpenny.    It  has  fifty  engravings 20  cts. 

Impromptu  Speaker. — This  is  not  a  collection   of  set 

speeches,  but  guides  the  speaker  in  making  his  own.  To  point  out  the 
requirements  of  all  ordinary  occasions  of  impromptu  speech-making, 
and  to  afford  such  aid  as  may  be  useful,  are  the  aims  of  this  little  trea- 
tise. While  avoiding  formal  rules  and  elaborate  disquisitions,  care 
will  be  taken  to  show  clearly  the  things  to  avoid,  as  well  as  the  things 
to  strive  for  in  both  the  matter  and  the  manner  of  the  speech,  and  the 
particular  points  of  etiquette  to  be  observed .   "25  cts. 

EXCELSIOR  PUBLISHING  HOUSE,  29  &  31  Beekman  St.,  New  York,  NY 
P    O    Box   1144. 


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Comicalities  by  Orpheus  C.  Kerr.— A  capital  work  "by 

this  very  popular  American  humorist.  Containing  150  comic  engrav- 
ings  25cts- 

Common  Sense  Cook  Book. — A  large  and  excellent  col 

lection  of  approved  cooking  and  domestic  recipes 25  cts. 

Infant  Star  Speaker. — A  collection  of  choicest  pieces  for 

little  speakers,  adapted  to  diff.-^rent  stj^les  and  abilities,  A  valuable 
feature  of  this  book  is  the  instruction  on  training  and  managing  tlie 
little  speakers,  and  how  to  make  the  most  effective  appearance  at 
school  receptions  and  exhibitions 25  cts. 

Joe  Green's  Trip  to  New  York.— A  highly  diverting 

account  of  a  stranger's  amusing  haps  and  mishaps  in  the  metropohs. 
Illustrated 10  cts. 

Lessons  in  Horse  Judging. — A  practical  guide  for  dealers 

and  buyers,  by  which  any  intelligent  person  may  become  a  good  judge 
of   horses 50  cts. 

Manual  of  Hair  Ornaments.— For  jewelry  or  souvenirs. 
A  guide  for  a  tasteful  recreation  for  leisure  hours,  and  a  source  of 
profitable  employment  for  jewelers  and  others.  This  book  gives  full 
directions  whereby  any  one  can  acquire  the  art.  The  book  is  illustrated 
with  over  eighty  explanatory  engravings  and  beautiful  designs  for 
work...     50  els. 

Marine  and  Landscape  Painting  in  Oil.— A  practical 

guide,  fully  illustrated 50  cts. 

Marine  and  Landscape  Painting  in  Water-Colors.— 

A  practical  guide,  fully  illustrated 50  cts. 

Marvels  and  Mysteries  of  Detective  Adventure.— A 

collection  of  thrilling  and  interesting  stories  of  the  detectives.  Illus- 
trated  25  cts. 

Mind  Reading. — A  practical  explanation  of  the  curious 
phenomena  exhibited  by  "  Brown,  the  Mind  Reader,"  enabling  any  one 
to  perform  the  experiiMcnts.    Illustrated 15  cts. 

Nightside  of  New  York.— This  book  is  a  vivid  and  truth- 
ful portrayal  of  the  great  city  after  the  gas  is  lighted.  It  presents  hitrh 
and  low  life  as  they  actually  are;  the  fashionable  life  and  life  in  the 
slums.  It  does  not  seek  sensationalism,  nor  to  draw  on  fancy  f.)r  its 
matter.    "Truth  is  stranger  than  fiction."    Illustrated 25  cts. 

Practical  Mesmerist,The.— A  plain  and  practical  illustrat- 
ed solf-instruotor  in  Curative  and  Scientific  Mesmerism, teaching  how  the 
reader  m«y  acquire  and  practice  the  art;  how  to  detect  disease,  to 
retard  or  accelerate  the  circulation  of  blood,  to  cure  headache,  rheu- 
matism, tic  doloreau,  mental  disorders,  paralysis,  spinal  disease  c  orn- 
plaints  of  lung,  liver,  heart,  and  stomach,  etc.;  introvision,  or  power 
of  looking  into  the  body,  clairvoyance,  mesmerized  water,  i  o  make  a 
person  subject  to  your  will  or  command,  and  manv  curious  e.xperi- 
ments.  Third  edition,  with  much  important  additional  matter,  with 
numerous  illustrations 25  cts. 

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Painter's  Manual.  -A  complete  practical  guide  to  house 
ami  sign  painting,  graining,  varnishing,  polisliing,  kalsoinining.  paper- 
ing, lettering,  staining,  giltling.  glazing,  silvering,  analysis  of  colors, 
harmony,  contrast,  philosopiij',  tlieory,  and  practice  of  color,  princi- 

Files  of  glass  staining,  etc.  Including  a  new  and  valuable  treatise  on 
low  to  Mix  Paints.  This  book  is  the  best  general  treatise  on  the  paint- 
er's trade  yet  written,  and  gives  the  information  really  wanted.  Ex- 
pcri.Miced  painters  have  repeatedly  borne  witness  to  its  value,  and  have 
found  hints  and  helps  which  they  had  not  happened  to  learn  with  years 
of  practice.    To  the  learuer  the  book  is  simply  indispensable 50  cts. 

Phonographic  Hand-Book.— For  self-instruction  in  the 
modern  improved  system,  used  by  practical  reporters  in  the  courts  of 
law  and  on  the  newspapers.  It  unites  simplicity  with  thoroughness, 
and  is  the  best  work  for  beginuers XJ5  cts. 

Rapid  Reckoning,— System  of  the  famous   "Lightning 

Calculator,"  whose  exhibitions  seemed  almost  miraculous;  any  one  can 
learn  and  apply;  valuable  to  clerks,  bookkeepers,  teachers,  and  busi 
ness  men.  'This  is  not  a  gift,  but  a  scientific  process.  *  ♦  *  It  will 
be  of  immense  advantage  in  trade,  commerce,  and  science,  and  revolu 
tioiiize  the  tedious  mode  of  addition  throughout  the  world."— X  1' 
Tribune.  It  is  not  a  '"  table  book,"  but  the  art  of  performing  arithmet 
ical  calculations  with  almost  instantaneous  speed  by  processes  fully 
taught  and  easily  learned  by  this  book 25  cts 

Rogues  and  Rogueries  of  New  York.— Exposes  all 

frauds  and  swindles  of  the  great  cities,  from  confidence  operators  to 
quack  doctors,  and  swindlfs  and  humbugs  by  mail.  Nearly  100, UOO  cop 
ies  hav^  been  sold,  and  it  has  broken  up  many  swindles.  It  is  highly  in 
teresting,  as  well  as  valuable.  If  you  haveu't  read  it,  don't  fail  to  do 
so.     Illustrated 25  cts. 

Royal  Society  Dra"wing  Book.— This  book  took  the  prize 

offered  for  the  best  bj'  the  London  Society  of  Arts.  It  advances  the 
learner  radidly.,  at  the  same  time  making  him  thorough  in  all  he  learns. 
It  is  adapted  to  self  instruction  or  use  in  classes.  It  has  the  quickest 
and  best  methods,  clearly  presented.  Its  instructions  are  exact  and 
always  to  the  point,  and  so  clear  that  the  learner  cannot  go  astray.  It 
is  profusely  illustrated,  covering  the  whole  ground  of  Freehand  Out- 
line from  Outline  or  from  the  Flat,  Freehand  Outline  from  Objects  or 
from  the  Round,  and  Practice  of  Free-hand  Outline  from  Solids  and 
Real  Objects.  If  j'ou  want  to  learn  drawing  understandingly  and  cor 
rectly  as  %\ell  as  rapidly,  this  is  the  proper  guide 50 cts. 

Scene  Painting  and  Painting  in  Distemper.— This 

work  gives  not  only  full  instructions  in  the  preparation  of  the  colors, 
drawiujg  for  scene  painters,  stage  settings,  but  also  useful  information 
regarding  stage  appliances  and  effects.  It  has  numerous  illustrative 
diagrams  and  engravings $1.00 

Secrets  Worth  Knowing.— A  guide  to  the  manufactm-e 
of  hundreds  of  useful  and  salable  articles,  including  patent  medicines, 
perfumery,  toilet,  and  dental  articles,  and  many  others  easily  made  at 
trifling  cost;  .selhug  readily  at  large  proflt.  A  single  article  may  afford 
livelihood  to  person  making  and  introducing  to  the  public ;  storekeep- 
ers, agents,  and  others  can  make  a  line  of  salable  goods  and  make 
money  in  any  community 25  cts. 

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Second  Sight. — A  guide  to  performing  this  famous  feat  as 
practiced  by  Heller  and  other  Conjurers,  adapted  to  parlor  or  school 
exhibitions,  with  a  new  method  of  performing  never  before  published, 
far  more  easy  of  performance  and  bewildering  in  its  effect  upon  an 
audience : 15  cts 

Self  Cure  ofDehilitY,— Including  Consumption,  Dyspepsia, 
Nervousness,  etc.  Advertises  no  doctor  or  medicine,  but  gives  full  and 
plain  instructions  for  self  cure  by  simple  means  within  reach  of  all, 
which  will  cost  nothing,  and  are  the  surest,  safe,  and  quickest  methods 
of  cure.  Dangers  of  advertised  modes  of  treatment,  quack  nostrums, 
etc.,  are  pointed  out.  It  will  do  more  than  anything  else  to  break  up 
quackery,  for  it  tells  the  truth,  and  quackery  thrives  on  false- 
hood   , , 75  cts. 

Self  Cure  of  Liquor  and  Opium  Habits.— TMs  book  ex- 
poses dangers  and  fallacies  of  advertised  modes  of  treatment  and 
quack  nostrums,  and  gives  the  best  and  most  successful  treatment 
known.  This  book  gives  recipes  for  preparations  which  can  be  given 
in  tea,  coffee,  or  other  fluid  unknown  to  the  drinker,  to  cure  the  liquor 
habit.    These  preparations  are  advertised  and  sold  at  high  prices    75  cts 

Self  Cure  of  Stammering'. — The  most  approved  and  suc- 
cessful methods  of  Self- Treatment,  with  exposures  of  empirical  and 
dangerous  devices.  By  aid  of  this  book  many  sufferers  have  overcome 
embarrassing  impediments,  and  its  information  is  the  stock  in  trade  of 
sevei-al  "schools"  and  'professors,"  who  are  doing  a  lucrative  busi 
ness , 25  cts 

Sign,  Carriage,  and  Decorative  Painting.— This  book 

is  the  combined  work  of  several  prominent  painters,  and  is  full  of  valu 
able  points  upon  the  several  branches  of  the  trade,  very  complete  It 
includes  Fresco  and  Car  painting,  and  other  useful  matters.     . .  50  cts 

Sign  Writing  and  Glass  Embossing  —This  standard 

work,  so  widely  and  favorablj'  known  is  now  is.sued  in  new  edition, 
with  newly  engraved  illustrations,  and  at  a  greatly  reduced  price 
This  work  is  too  well  known  to  the  trade  to  need  eulogy  at  our  hands. 
It  has  been  long  regarded  as  a  standard  work  and  invaluable  to  every 
one  interested  in  its  line   .. 75  cts. 

Slow  Horses  Made  Fast,  and  Fast  Horses  Made  Faster. 

— S.vstem  of  increasing  speed  practised  by  the  most  famous  and  sue 
cessf  ul  horsemen.  Endorsed  by  Robert  Bonner  Esq.  Illustrated,  50  cts. 

Sketching  from  Nature  in  Pencil  and  Water  Colors 

—This  is  an  excellent  work  for  young  art  students  ,  full  of  practical 
information,  which  they  will  find  clearly  presented.  Illustrated  50  cts 

Snares  of  New  York. — The  most  complete  exposure  of 

the  perils  and  pitfalls  of  this  city,  the  clever  devices  of  wily  men  and 
women  to  entrap  the  innocent  or  the  stranger,  and  the  traps  of  swin 
dledom  high  and  low.  A  mammoth  double-column  volume  of  nearly 
200  pages,  profusely  illustrated  50  cts, 

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Soap-Maker's  Manual.— Plain  and  practical  giiido  for  the 
manufacturp  of  plain  and  fancy  s()ai)s,  washinpr  fluids,  medicinal  soaps, 
toilet  preparations,  slia\  ing  soaps  cind  creams,  soap  powdens,  etc  .  f(;r 
families  and  manufacturers.  Has  best  American,  Lnglisli,  French,  and 
German  formulas.  Any  family  in  theC  country  can  make  good  soap  at 
trifling  cost ..      ;ij  cts 

Spirit  Mysteries  Exposed.— A  complete  exposition  of 

all  the  marvelous  feats  of  the  "spirit  rappers  "'  and  "mediums,  '  Daven 
ports,  Hume,  etc.,  so  fully  laid  bare  that  any  one  can  perform.  The 
young  folks  can  astonish  and  amuse  their  companions  and  friends  by 
exhibitions  of  these  mysterious  doings,  doing  the  wonders  seen  at 
private  and  public  seances.    Illustrated 15  cts. 

Standard  Sign  Writer,  The.— This  book  is  very  generally 

recognized  as  the  standard  work  on  the  subject.  Its  instructions  are 
clear,  precise,  and  practical,  and  cover  just  tue  ground  desired  by  most 
of  the  profession  It  is  divided  into  two  parts,  the  first  giving  detailed 
instructions  for  the  different  styles  of  lettering  according  to  the  prac- 
tices most  approved  by  the  best  practical  sign  writers.  The  second 
part  consists  of  a  variety  of  large  engraved  plates,  designed  especially 
for  this  work,  and  giving  some  of  the  best  styles  of  lettering,  model 
alphabets,  designs  for  signs,  and  other  things  of  interest  to  the  profes- 
sion  $2.00 

Standard  Scroll  Book.  The.— This  is  a  collection  of  upward 

of  two  hundred  designs  suitable  for  painters,  jewelers,  designers,  deco 
rators,  draughtsmen,  and  almost  every  branch  requiring  ornamental 
scroll  work  Prominent  features  in  this  book  are  the  Shaded  scrolls  and 
the  designs  for  iSigns,  Wagons,  and  Omnibuses $1.00 

Standard  Irish  Readings.— Gives  choicest  selections  in 

prose  and  verse,  many  rare  ones,  suited  to  recitation  or  public  reading. 
While  specially  interesting  to  Irish  people,  many  of  the  pieces  are  well 
adapted  to  general  use,  being  very  fine 25  cts. 

Taxidermist's  Manual.— This  is  the  only  complete  and 
practical  work  giving  full  and  plain  instructions  for  collecting,  pre- 
paring, preserving,  stufting  and  mounting  all  bird.-;,  animals,  and  in- 
sects      .     - 50  cts. 

Tricks  on  Travelers.— A  little  work  exposing  frauds 

practised  on  travelers,  and  other  information  useful  to  strangers  in 
great  cities..    Illustrated      .. 15  cts. 

TiDCle  Si's  Black  Jokes.— This  is  one  of  the  funniest 
books  you  ever  saw.  It  is  quaint  and  curious,  and  real  darkey  humor. 
Illustrated     , 10  cts. 

Use  of  Colors.— A  valuable  treatise  on  the  properties  of 
different  pigments  and  their  suitableness  to  uses  of  artists  and  students. 
Full  of  useful  information • 2.jcts. 

Watchmakers   and   Jewelers'  Manual.— Gives  latest 

and  most  approved  secrets  of  the  trade,  embracing  watcl-  and  clock 
cleaning  and  repairing,  tempering  in  all  its  grades,  making  tools,  com- 
pounding metals,  alloys,  plating,  etc.,  with  plain  instructior^  for 
beginners.    Greatly  enlarged  edition ^  cts. 

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Woodward's  National  Architect.  Vol.  I.— New  edi- 
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Plans  and  Details  for  Country,  Suburban,  and  Village  Houses,  with 
Perspective  Views,  front  and  side  elevations,  sections,  full  details  of 
di-awings,  specifications,  and  estimates.    Price $7.50 

Woodward's  National  Architect.    Vol.  II.— Complete 

in  itself.  Embracing  New  and  Original  Designs,  Plans,  Elevations, 
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Rural  Church  Architecture.— -0  Designs  for  Churches, 

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Eveleth.    The  only  work  published  on  low-priced  Churches.      $4.00 

Eveleth's     School-house     Architecture.— Designs   for 

School-houses.  Containing  sixty-seven  plates  with  Perspectives.  Eleva- 
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Scale,  with  methods  of  Heating  and  Ventilation.  Large  quarto. 
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Woodward's  Cottages  and  Farm  Houses.— 188  Designs 

and  Plans  of  low-priced  Cottages,  Farm  Houses,  and  Out-Buildings. 
12mo,  fully  illustrated.    Price $1.00 

Harney's  Barns,  Out-Buildings,  and  Fences.— Designs 

and  Plans  of  Stables,  Farm  Barns,  Out-Buildings,  Gates.  Gate- 
ways, Fences,  Stable  Fittings,  and  Furniture,  fully  described,  with 
nearly  2J0  illustrations.    Price S-100 

Monckton's  National  Stair-Builder.— A  Complete  Work 

on  Stair-Building  and  Hand-Railing.  Fully  explained  and  illustrated 
by  Large  Scale  Diagrams,  in  two  colors,  with  Designs  for  Stair-Cases, 
Newels,  Balusters,  and  Hand-Rails.  Royal  quarto,  extra  cloth. 
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Monckton's  National  Carpenter  and  Joiner.— A  Com- 
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Framing,  etc.  Fully  explained  and  illustrated  by  large  Scale  Diagnuns, 
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Wheeler's  Homes  for  the  People.— lOO  Original  Designs, 

with  full  Descriptions  and  Constructive  and  Miscellaneous  Details. 
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and  full  directions  for  Designing,  Building,  Heating,  Furnishing,  and 
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Jacques's  Manual  of  the  House.— How  to  Build  Dwell- 
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ing.   Price gl .  00 

Hussey's  National  Cottage  Architecture.— New  and 

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low-priced  Houses,  with  Specifications  and  Costs.  Royal  quarto. 
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GRAPE  CULTURE. 
Husmann's  Grapes  and  Wine. — The  Cultivation  of  the 

Native  Grape  and  Manufacture  of  American  Wine.  Bi'  Geo.  Husmann, 
of  Missouri.     Price Sl.OJ 

Phin's  Open  Air  Grape  Culture;  or,  Garden  and  Vine- 
yard Culture  of  Grapes  and  Wine.— A  Complete  Practical  Treatise  on 
the  management  of  the  Vine  and  the  Fruit.  New  edition,  revised. 
Price $1 .00 

The  Thomery  System  of  Grape  Culture.— Describing 

the  Cultivation  of  the  Grape  on  Trellises  in  Northern  and  Central 
France.    Flexible  cloth.    Price 30  cts. 

STANDARD  WORKS  ON  AGRICULTURE. 

Randall's  Practical  Shepherd.— New  edition.  Extra  Fine 

Binding.  A  Complete  Treatise  on  the  Breeding,  Management,  and 
Diseases  of  Sheep.  By  Henrv  S.  Randall,  LL.D.,  author  of  "Sheep 
Husbandry  in  the  South,"  "Fine  Wool  Sheep  Husbandry,"  etc.,  etc. 
Very  fully  illustrated .     Extra  cloth  binding.    8vo .     Price S^  •  00 

Lewis's  Practical  Poultry  Book.-A  work  on  the  Breeds, 

Breeding,  Rearing,  and  General  Management  of  Poultry,  with  full  in- 
structions for  Caponizing.  Over  100  engravings.  8vo.  Extra  cloth 
binding.     Price Si.  50 

Miner's    Domestic    Poultry    Book.— On  the  History, 

Breeding,  and  Management  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Fowls.  New  edi- 
tion.    Very  fully  illustrated.     12mo.     Price SI  00 

Jacques's  Manual  of  the  Garden,  Farm,  and  Barn-yard. 

—Embracing  the  Cultivation  of  Vegetables,  Fruit.  Flowers,  all  Field 
Crops,  Details  of  Farm  Work,  and  Rearing  Domestic  Animals.  New 
and  revised  edition.     One  volume.     Price $1.50 

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Todd's  Young  Farmer's  Manual.    Vol.  I.— The  Farm 

and  the  Workshop,  with  Practical  Directions  for  laying  out  a  Farm 
Erecting  Buildings,  Fences,  Farm  Gates,  Selecting  good  Farm  and 
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Todd's  Young  Farmer's  Manual.     Vol.  II.— How  to 

make  Farming  Pay,  with  full  Details  of  Farm  Management,  Character 
of  SoQs,  Plowmg,  Management  of  Grass  Lands,  3Iauures,  Farna  Imple 
ments,    Stock,    Drainage,    Planting,     Harvesting,    etc.       Illustrated 
Pi'ice §1  50 

Todd's  Young  Farmer's  Manual.    Vol.  III.— Being  the 

Practical  Results  of  Forty  Years'  Experience  in  Wheat  Culture,  with 
full  information  on  Soils,  Varieties,  Methods  of  Cultivation,  Machinery, 

Diseases,  etc.     43.>  pages.    Illustrated.    Price Si. 50 

The  above  three  volumes  form  a  Complete  Library  for  the  Young 
Farmer,  at  a  very  low  price.  Any  volume  supplied  separate,  if  de- 
sired. 

Elliott's  Lawn  and  Shade  Trees.— For  Planting  Parks, 

Gardens,  Cemeteries,  Private  Grounds,  and  Avenues.  Fully  illus- 
trated  $1.00 

Fuller's  Forest  Tree  Culturist.— The  Cultivation  of  For- 
est  Trees  for  Shade,  for  Shelter,  for  Fuel,  for  Timber,  and  for  Profit. 
Illustrated.    Extra  cloth  binding.     Price §1.00 

Willard's  Practical  Dairy  Husbandry  —New  edition. 

Over  200  illustrations.  A  Complete  Treatise  on  Dairy  Farms  and  Farm- 
ing ;  Dairy  Stock  and  Stock  Feedmg  ;  Milk  ;  Its  Management  and 
Manufacture  into  Butter  and  Cheese  ;  History  and  Mode  of  Organ- 
ization of  Butter  and  Cheese  Factories;  Dairy JJtensils,  etc.  Price,  $-i.00 

Willard's  Practical  Butter  Book.— A  Complete  Treatise 

on  Butter  Making  at  Factories  and  Farm  Dairies,  including  the  Selec- 
tion, Feeding,  and  Management  of  Stock  for  Butter  Dairying,  with  Plans 
for  Dairy-rooms  and  Creameries,  Dairy  Fixtures,Utensils,  etc.  50  illus- 
trations.    Price Si  LH) 

Ten  Acres  Enough. — A  Practical  Treatise,  showing  how 
a  very  small  farm  may  be  made  to  support  a  very  large  family,  with 
full  and  minute  instructions  as  to  the  best  mode  of  Cultivating  the 
Smaller  Fruits,  such  as  Strawberries,  Raspberries,  Blackberries,  etc. 
Also,  what  capital  is  needed  ;  where  the  man  of  small  means  should 
locate  to  secure  the  most  profit  :  how  he  should  go  to  work,  and  what 
he  can  do  when  beginning  in  a  small  way.    Price §1  00 

How  to  Get  a  Farm  and  Where  to  Find  One.— Showing 

that  Homesteads  may  be  had  by  those  desirous  of  securing  them,  with 
the  public  Law  on  the  subject  of  Free  Homes,  and  suggestions  f  rt.im 
Practical  Farmers.    Fully  illustrated,  cloth,  extra.    Price     $1.00 

Our  Farm  of  Four  Acres,  and  the  Money  We  Made  by 

It.     1  vol.     12mo.     Cloth 60cts. 

"  A  Practical  and  Interesting  Volume." 

Flax  Culture. — A  Manual  of  Flax  Culture  and  Manufact- 
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Wallace's  American  Trotting  Register-  Containing  all 

that  is  known  of  the  Pe'ligrees  of  Trotting  Horses,  their  Ancestors  and 
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Horse  Portraiture.— Breeding,  Rearing,  and  Training 
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Wallace's  American  Stud  Book.  —Being  a  Compilation  of 

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Frank  Forester's  Field  Sports.— Embracing  the  Game  of 

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Frank  Forester's  Fish  and  Fishing.— 100  engravings. 

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Frank  Forester's  Complete  Manual  for  Young  Sports- 
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including  a  full  description  of  the  latent  ImprovL-d  Breech-Loading 
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Gun,  Rod,  and  Saddle.— Nearly  fifty  practical  articles  on 
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Excelsior  Recitations  and  Readings. 

ISTo.   1. 
Designed  and  Arrauged  L/ Public  aud  Parlor  Kecitation  and  Readiog. 


Barhclor's  Dream,  Tlie. 
Before  and  Alter  Taking. 
Roy's  Essay  on  Girls,  A. 
Bonier  Funeral,  A. 
Brother  Bill, 


CONTENTS. 

Froward  Duster,  The. 
Grannie's  Picture. 
iHe  Understood  It. 
iHorse  or  Husband  ? 
iHjw  We  Fou'Mit  the  Fire, 


Brother  Gardner  ou  Liars.  In  Der  Shweed  Long  Ago. 
Cane-Bottoraed  Chair.  Intensely  Utter. 

Countryman  at  trie  Show,  Inventor's  Wile,  The. 

The.  I  Irrepressible  Yankee,  Th 

Clown's  Baby,  The.  |Jim  s  Kid.^. 

Cow,  The.    A  Boy's  Com-  Little  Men  and  I. 
position.  Lost  Grave,  The. 

De  Cake  Walk.  Marriage  Tour,  A. 

Death-Bed    of    Benedict  Marry's  Lamb. 

Arnold.  Miner's  Protege,  The. 

Drummer's  Bride,  The.       Modern  Sermon,  A. 
iMusiG  Grinders,  The. 
Ninety-eight. 
No.  oCoilect  St 


Engineers  Making  Love. 
Erin's  Flag. 

Essay  on  the  Elephant. 
Father  Front's  Sermon. 
Fireman's  Story.  The. 
Fisher's  Wife,  The. 
Free  Seat,  A. 
Freckled- Face  Girl,  The 


Not    Opposed    to    Matri- 
mony. 
Old  Actor's  Story,  The. 
Old  Sergeant,  The. 
On  the  Other  Train. 


Frenchman's  Version   of  Oratory  and  the  Press. 
Youug  Norval.  Original  Love  Story,  An. 

Bound  in  illuminated  paper  cover.  -       -       - 


Our  First  Cigars. 
Paddy's  Lament. 
Parson  Snow's  Broad  Hint 
Philip  Barton,  Engineer. 
Photograph  Album,  The. 
Railway  Matin*  e,  A. 
Religious  Card  Player. 
Robert  Emmet. 
Romance  of  a  Hammock. 
Shoemaker's      Daughter, 

The. 
Smiting  the  Rock. 
Solomonitra. 
S'posin'. 

Stage  Driver's  Story,  The. 
Supper  of  St.  Gregory,  The 
Tale  of  the  Tenth  Hussars 
Test,  A. 
That  Queen. 
Trying    to    Lick    the 

Teacher. 
Unknown  Dead. 
Widder,  The. 
Widow's  Son.  The. 
Woman  at  Poker. 

Price,  25  cents. 


ISTo-  2. 

CONTE  NTS. 

Katrina's    Visit    to   New  Providence   Pulled  him 
York.  Through. 

Legend  of  Inuisfa'len,  The  Rag-picker,  The. 

Lost  and  Found.  Shipwrecked. 

Maniac.  The.  Soft  Guitar.  The. 

Mr.  Fisher's  Bereavement.  Song  of  the  Sh'rc. 

My  Neighbor's  Baby.  Spring  House-cleaning. 

Nora   Murphy  and  the  Story  of  the  Faithful  Soul. 
Spirits.  Street  Cries. 

Occupant  of  Lower  No.  3,  That  Woman  Played  De- 
The.  spair. 

Drama  of  Three,  The.         Old  Man  Goes  to  Town,  Tirzah  Ann's   Summer 
Duel    between   Mr.  Shott      The.  Trip. 


Anx  Italiens, 

Bells  of  Shandon. 

Bishop  of  Ross,  The. 

I'.uilding  and  Being. 

Charity  Dinner,  The. 

Connor. 

Crazy  Kate. 

Cuddle  Doon. 

Death  of  the  Old  Squire, 

The. 
DotBaby  off  Mine, 


aud  Mr.  Nott. 
Emigrants,  The. 
Fashionable      Schoolgirl 

The. 
Hie  Last  Court. 
How  "Ruby"  Played. 
How  Sockery  Set  a  Hen. 
Jiners,  The. 
Justice  in  Leadville. 
Knight's  Toast,  The. 


Oration  on   the  Labor  To  Draw  or  Not  to  Draw. 

Question.  Treadwater  Jim. 

Over   the  Hill   from    the  Two  Glasses,  The. 

Poor  House.  Uncle  Ike's  Roosters. 

Over  the  Hill  to  the  Poor  What  Intemperance  Does 

House.  What  Made  Him  Glad. 

Paddy's  Reflections  on  Widow  Cummiskey,  The. 

Cleopaihera's  Needle.     iWickedest  Man  in  Mem- 
Piece  of  Red  Calico,  phis. 
Pledge  with  Wine.              [Winnie's  Welcome. 
Bound  in  illuminated  paper  cover.  -       .       .       -       Price,  25  cents* 
For  sale  by  all  Booksellers,  or  will  be  sent,  poet-paid,  on  receipt  of  price. 

EXCELSIOR    PUBLISHING    HOUSE, 


P.  O.  Box  1144. 


a9  and  31  Beekiuan  Street,  IVe-w  York, 


3SrO.    3-       COnSTTEHsTTS: 


Asleep  at  the  Switch. 

Battle  of  Waterloo,  The. 

Benediction. 

Biddy  Maginness  at  the  Photogra- 
pher's. 

Billy's  Rose. 

Black  Horse  and  his  Rider,  The. 

Book  Canvasser,  The. 

Brier  Rose. 

Californian  and  a  New  York 
Segar,  A. 

Caoch  the  Piper. 

Cataract  of  Lodore,  The. 

Catawba  Wine. 

Children  We  Keep.  The. 

Chinese  Excelsior.  The. 

Clothing  Business,  The. 

Coals  of  Fire. 

Como. 

Curfew  Must  Not  Ring  To-Night. 

Death  of  Robespierre,  The. 

Difficulty  in  Rhyming. 

Farmer  John. 

Fearless  De  Courcy.  The. 

Flash.     (The  Fireman  Story.) 

Fly  Cogitation.  A. 

Going  to  School. 

Granerer  and  the  Gambler,  The. 

Her  Rival. 

How  Girls  Study. 

How  Jane  Conquest  Rang  the  Bell. 

Jack. 

Kitchen  Clock,  The. 

Left. 


176  Pages,  Paper  Cover. 


nSTTEHsTTS: 

Life  Boat,  The. 

Life's  Magnet. 

Mary's  Lamb  on  a  New  Principle. 

Maud  Rosihue's  Choice. 

Miss  Maloney  on  the  Chinese  Ques 

tion. 
Moll  Jarvis  O'Marley. 
Mrs.  Smart  Learus  How  to  Skate. 
My  Garden. 
My  Lover. 
Nancy. 

Now  and  Then. 

Old  Man  in  the  Palace  Car,  The. 
Our  Travelled  Parson . 
Phryne's  Husband. 
Poor-House  Man. 
Bevenge  is  Sweet. 
Room  Enough  fur  All. 
Scandal,  A. 
Seedy  One,  A.    (A  Tale  of  Fraud 

and  Deception.; 
Sign-Board,  Tlie. 
Sister  of  Charity,  The. 
Smoker's  Soiih  quy,  A. 
Ta  e  of  a  Dog,  The. 
To  a  Skeleton. 

Trouble  in  the  Amen  Corner. 
Uncle  Ned's  Defence. 
^'alentine,  The. 
What  is  a  Gentleman  ? 
When. 

Witness,  The. 
Wounded. 
Wrong  Train,  The. 

Price  25  cents- 


3SrO.    4.     COlsTTE^JSTTS. 


America. 

Bolls  (The). 

liill  .loiies. 

Hill  Snyder  s  Boy 

liill  the  Kii^ineer 

B<>b  9  Petticoat!!. 

Boy     Wnnieil  " 

Bridget  McGarrigan. 

C'nxsius  Apainst  C'.-vsar. 

Charcoal  M:iii  (The). 

C  irect  Caixl  (The). 

C'upiU'R  Arrow 

Dead  DolUTIiei 

Drunkard  s Child  (The) 

Klrventh  Hour  (The' 

Emancipation  of  Man  (The) 

First  Client  iThel 

l-irst  Piauo  in  Mining  Camp  (The) 

Vorty 

1-ritz'B  Courtship 

Cunrdiun  Anp-l  of  Gloomy  Gulch  (The) 

Gemini  and  Viigo 

Ginperl)read. 

Goat (The) 

Guilty  or  Not  Guilty 

Her  letter 

He  Was  Rather  IVnf 

Hou9ekee|>er  ■  Soliloquy  (The) 

How.lolin  I'roposed. 

Joe  Tonl  '  the  Fireman.  ' 

John  (  hinaman'a  Protest. 

I.eadville  Jim. 

Lenior>ade 

Little  Uii^'i  from  Ireland  (  A ) 


Little  Girl's  Coniposili'Mi  on  '  IJo 

little  Maid  s  An.eu  (The) 

Maclaine  ?  Child 

Marry  Me  Darlint  To  Nieht. 

Modern  Shakespeare  (The) 

Movenienl  Cun;  for  Ubcumati'^m 

Moving  lale  (A) 

Mr.  Peppergrnss's  Peroration 

MuinbooiMl>:.-(Tlif 

Old  Kmln.-y  and  ihr  Bull 

One  Touch  of  .Niitme. 

Orange  and  Green. 

Othello  3  A)>ology 

Paradise  Kcganied. 

Pauper  l.nw 

Phaidrig  Crohoore. 

Rover 

Sale  of  Old  n.irhrlr.r8(A) 

Sal  I'arker  s  (ihost 

Selfish  l)nimui.r(The) 

S|>o<-|>eiidvkc  Wrisile.'.  with  a  Bic 

Station  Master  i  St  .rv  (The) 

Story  of  Some  Bell*  (The) 

Tale  of  a  Possum 

Telmachus  vs   Mentor 

That  Porterhouse  Steak. 

Tim  <)  Brian  s  Wedding. 

Tramping 

Washington.     fPoetry  ] 

Washingl'^n      [Prose  J 

Water-Mill' The). 

You  Put  No  Flowers  on  Papa  s  ( 

Young  Trump  i  The) 


(The) 


Buuiitl  ill  illiiiniiiated  cover.     Price  1!i  cents. 


BTTR-IDETT'S 


Irish  Dialect  Recitations  and  Readings. 


CONTE  NTS. 

The  "  Aprer."  iKatii''fl  Answer. 

The  Battle  of  Limerick.     [Lariio  O'Dee. 
Biddy    McGinnis    ou    the  Larry's  on  the  Force. 


Photograph. 
Biddy    McGinnis    at    the 

Photocrrapher'!». 
Biddy's  Trials  Among  the 

Yanlvees. 
Biddy's  Trouble-. 
The  Birth  of  St.  Patrick. 
The  Donkey. 
Don't  be  Tazing  Me. 
The  Emigrants. 
How  Pat  Saved  Ills  Bacon 
Irish  Coquetry. 
An  Irish  Letter. 
The  Irish  Philosopher. 
The  Irish  Schoolmnster. 
The  Irish  Traveller. 
An  Irishm^in's  Letter. 


Love  in  the  Kitchen. 

Make  it  Four  Yer  Honor. 

The  Man  He  Was  Waiting 
to  See. 

Mike's  Confession. 

Miss  Maloney  on  the  Chi- 
nese Question. 

Miss  Maloney  Goes  to  the 
Dentist. 

Modern  Astronomy  and 
Philosophy. 

iMr.  Moloney's  Account  of 

!     the  Ball. 

Noah  Murphy  and  the 
Spirits. 

The  O'Nayle  who  had 
Lost  the  Big  "O." 


'O'Thello. 

Paddy  Blake's  Echo. 
Paddy's  Courting. 
Paddy's  Dream. 
Paddy  the  Piper. 
Paddy  O'Rafthor. 
Paddy's    Rellectiona     or. 

Cleopathra's  Needle. 
Pat's  Criticism. 
Pat's  Letter. 
Pat  and  His  Musket. 
Pat  and  thn  Oysters. 
Patrick  O'Rouke  and  the 
1     Frogs. 

Pairdeen  O'Reflferty's  Say 
'     Voyage. 

Peter  Mulrooney  and  the 
I    Black  Filly. 
Tim  Murphy's  Irish  Stew. 
The  Wake  of  Tim  O'Hara. 
The  Widow  Cummiskey. 

-    Price,  25  cents. 


The  Irishman's  Panorama, O'Reilly's  Nightmare. 
Jimmy  McBride's  Letter.  |  | 

Bound  in  illuminated  paper  cover.      -       -       _ 

New  Comic  Eecitations&  Humorous  Readings 

CO  NTENTS. 

Add.  Ryman's  Fourth  of  How  She  Managed  It.         Pyrotechnic  Polyglot. 
July  Oration.  Hoav  They  Play  the  Piano  A  Receipt  for  Actors. 


The  A^ed  Stranger. 
A  Baby's  Soliloquy. 
Be-Yu-Ti-Ful  Snow. 
The  Blue  Bottle  Fly. 


in  New  Orleans.  She  Meant  Bue 

How  to  Manage  Carpets.    She  Was  Too  Fastidious. 
How  Tom  Sawyer  Got  His  A  Similar  Case. 

Fence  White-washed.      The  Simple   Story  of  G. 


The  Book  Agent  Beats  the  How  we  Hunted  a  Mouse,  j    Washington. 


A  Speech  which  every 
I  Congressman  Could  Un- 
I    derstand. 

Spoopendyke's  Suspend- 
I    ers. 
!a  struggle  with  a  Stove 


Bandit.  An  Idyl  of  the  Period. 

The  Brakeman  at  Church.  The  Irre-prc«sible  Boy. 
Britrg's  Rash  Bet.  Jim  Wolfe  and  the  Cats. 

Buck  Fanshawe's  Funeral  John  Spiner's  Shirt. 
Butterwick's    Little    Gas  Love  in  Oyster  Bay. 

Bill.  Maidens,  Beware  ! 

The  Captain's  Speech  to  Mr.  Kphraim  Muggins  on     Pipe. 

the  Montgomery  Guards     Oilymargarine.  That  Bad  Boy  Again. 

The      Car      Conductor's  Mr.  T'otts'  Story.  That  Emerson  Boy. 

Mistake.  A  New  Primer.  That  Hired  Girl. 

The  Case  of  Young  Bangs.  Nobody's  Mule.  '"  Toujour?  Jamais." 

Confessing  their  Faults.     One  of  Those  Awful  Chil-  Travelling    in    a    Mixed 
Faithless  Sally  Brown.  dren.  Train. 

Fast  Freight.  Only  a  Pin.  The  Two  Boot  Blacks. 

The  Frenchman  and  the  The  Parent  with  the  Hoof  The  Villain  Still  Pursued 

Flea  Powder.  A  Plea  for  the  Opera.         !    Her 

Darius  Green  and  His  Fly- The  Presentation  of  the  The  Wrone  Ashes. 

in^  Machine.  Trumpet.  The  Yarn  of  the  "Nancy 

He  Had  Been  to  Candahar  The     Puzzled    Census,    Bell." 
How  "  Ruby "  Played.       i    Taker.  I 

niustrated  paper  cover.    ------       Price,  25  cents. 

For  sale  by  all  Booksellers,  or  will  be  sent,  post-paid,  on  receipt  of  price. 

EXCELSIOR    PUBLISHING    HOUSE, 

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Skll-f\ooii\  G^tiide; 


OR, 


DANCING  SELF-TAUGHT. 


The  latest  and  most  complete  of  any  publication  of  its  kind 
out,  embracing  not  only  the  vrhole  theory  and  practice  of 
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giving  of  Receptions,  Parties,  Balls,  etc.,  from  the  com- 
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OUT     THE    FIGURES    OF    EVERY    DANCE,    and    a    host    of    OthCT 

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The  Grand  March 

Plain  and  Fauci/  Qiiadn'llrs 

Waltz  and  Glide  (^hladrilles 

Plain  Lancers  and  Caledonians 

Glide  Lancers  and  Caledonians 

Saratoga  Lancers 

The  Parisian  Varieties 

The  Prince  Imperial  Quadrille 


Social  and  Basket  Qnadrillra 
jyine-Pinaud  Star  Quudrillcs 
Minnet  Quadrilles 
Polka  and  Polka  Redoira 
Pedowa  and  Rcdowa  Waltz 
Polka  Mazourka 
Schottische 
Galop  and  Deux  Temps,  etc 


AND   ONE   HUNDRED   FIGURES  FOR   THE    "GERMAN. 

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-THE 


(iOMPLEJIiB   DbBAIITEI^. 

CONTAINING 

Debates,  Outlines  of  Debates,  and  Questions 

FOR  Discussion,  to  which  is  added  an 

Original  and  complete  Debate  on 

Free  Trade. 

In  addition  to  these  are  a  large  collection  of  debatable 
questions. 

The  authorities  to  be  referred  to  for  information  being 
given  at  the  close  of  every  debate  throughout  the  work,  mak- 
ing it  the  most  complete  work  on  the  subject  ever  published. 

Containing  the  following  complete  Debates : 

1.  Is  the  Protection  afforded  to  American  industry  by 
duties  on  imports  beneficial  to  the  American  people  ? 

2.  Which  is  of  the  greatest  Benefit  to  his  Country,  the 
Warrior,  the  Statesman,  or  the  Poet  f 

3.  Are  the  Mental  Capacities  of  the  Sexes  equa^  ? 

4.  Is  Capital  Punishment  justifiable  ? 

5.  Does  Morality  increase  with  Civilization  ? 

6.  Has  the  Stage  a  Moral  Tendency  ? 

7.  Which  was  tha  greater  Poet,  Shakespeare  or  Milton  ? 
S.  "VMiich  has  done  the  greater  Service  to  Mankind,  the 

Printing  Press  or  the  Steam  Engine  ? 

9.  Which  does  the  most  to  make  the  Orator — Knowledge, 
Natm-e,  or  Art  ? 

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a  situation,  inquire  o-bout  prices  of  goods,  buy  anything,  from 
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clear,  and  indisputable  language. 

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AGREEMENTS,  LEASES, 

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And  a  Host  of  Other  Forms, 

which  require  to  be  correctly  worded  to  be  binding  and  of 
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THE  COMPLETE  DEBATER '"ontaining  Debates.  Outlines  of  Debates. 

and  Questions  for  Discussion,  to  which  is  added  an  origined  and 

complete  debate  on  Free  Trade. 

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WILSON'S  ball-room  GUIDE;  OR,  DANCING  SELF-TAUGHT.-Tho 
latest  and  mu^t  complete  of  any  publication  of  its  kind  out,  embrac- 
ing not  only  tl'e  whole  theory  and  practice  of  Terpsichorean  Art, 
but  full  and  lequisi-e  information  for  the  giving  of  Recbptions, 
Parties,  Balls,  etc.,  with  clear  directions  for  calling  out  thk 
FIGURES  OF  EVEnY  DANCiS.  together  with  thirty-eight  pages  of  the 
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of  forms  for  Business  Papers  and  Documents,  such  as  Agreements, 
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DUNBAR'S  COMPLETE  HAND-BOOK  OF  ETIC^UETTE This  work  pre- 
sents, in  a  clear  and  intelligible  manner,  the  whole  art  and  philoso- 
phy of  Etiquette.  Among  the  contents  are:  Bodiljr  Deportment, 
Speak  Grammatically,  Self-Respect,  Pedantry,  Social  Characters, 
Traveling,  Ust'fiil  Hii.ts  on  Conversation,  etc.,  etc. 
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DE  VERB'S  WIT,  HUMOR,  PATHOS,  AND  PARODIES.-Being  a  new 
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humor,  and  pathos.  These  beautiful  selections  have  been  delivered 
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the  "public"  will  be  delighted  to  get  those  oems  in  such  a  com- 
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Fishing  in  American  Waters.    By  Genio  C.  Scott.    200  Illustrations. . .  2  50 

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How  to  Get  a  Farm  and  Where  to  Find  One 1  00 

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Hus-ey's  National  Cottage  Architecture.    Quarto 4  00 

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Jacques'  Manual  of  the  House.     i26  Designs 1  00 

Lewis'  Practical  Poult  ry  Book.     100  Illustrations 1  50 

Miner's  Domestic  Poultry  Book.    Illustrated 1  00 

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Trout  Culture.    By  J.  H.  Slack,  M.D 1  00 

Wallace's  American  Stud  Book.     1.000  pages,  8vo 10  00 

Wallace's  American  Trotting  Register.    8vo 10  00 

Wheeler's  Homes  for  t!ie  People.    Fully  Illustrated 2  00 

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Willard's  I'ractical  Butter  Book.    Illustrated 100 

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